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PUBLICA TIONS OF E. J. GOODRICH, 

OBERLIN, OHIO. 

Gospel Themes, a volume of Sermons by Rev. C. G. 

Finney. i2mo. Cloth, $i 50 

Revival Lectures. By Rev. C. G. Finney. i2mo. 

Cloth, 1 75 

Finney's Theology. English Edition. 1 vol., thick 8vo. 

Cloth, 7 50 

Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney. i2mo. Cloth, 2 00 

Gift of the Holy Ghost. By John Morgan, D.D. 

i8mo. Flexible cloth, 25 

Holiness Acceptable to God. By John Morgan, D.D. 

i6mo. Flexible cloth, 75 

Jesus the Cure of Skepticism. By Rev. Henry Matson. 

i6mo. Cloth, 1 00 

Doctrine of Sanctification at Oberlin. By Pres. 

J. H. Fairchild. Paper, 15 

Sacred Songs for Social Worship. A New Hymn 
and Tune Book for the Churchy the Prayer Meeting, 

and the Home. Cloth, 50 

Morocco, Gilt, . . 75 

Send fifty cents for a Specimen Copy, and ask for rates for In- 
troduction. 

Any of the above sent post-paid, on receipt of the price. 



REMINISCENCES 

•1 

Rev. CHARLES G. FINNEY. 



tymtys antr £hdr|fta 



GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS AND PUPILS, 



OBERLIN, JULY 28th, 1876. 



TOGETHER WITH 



PRESIDENT FAIRCHILD 'S MEMORIAL SERMON, 



DELIVERED BEFORE 



THE GRADUATING CLASSES, JULY 3 o, 1876. 







OBERLIN, OHIO: E. J. GOODRICH. 
1876. 



3X7ZL0 



Copyright, 1876, fy 
E. J. GOODRICH. 



EDWARD 0. JENKINS, 

PRINTER AND 8TERE0TYPER, 

20 NORTH WILLIAM ST., N. Y. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY EVANGELISTIC LABORS. 

Mr. Finney in Rochester and Western New York (by Rev. 

Charles P. Bush, D.D., of New York city), - - - - 7 

Remarks of Rev. R. L. Stanton, D.D., of Cincinnati, - - 25 

Remarks of Rev. Dr. PlERSON, of Detroit, ------ 28 

Remarks of Rev. John P. Avery, of Cleveland, Ohio, - - 29 

Remarks of Hon. William E. Dodge, of New York city, - 31 

Letter of Richard Steel, of Auburn, New York, - - - 34 

Letter of Seth B. Hunt, of New York City, ----- 36 

Letter of Edmund Watts, of Allegheny, Penn., - - - - 37 

Letter of Deacon Edwin Lamson, of Boston, Mass., - - - 39 



PART II. 

REMINISCENCES OF ASSOCIATES AND PUPILS IN 
OBERLIN. 

Mr. Finney as Preacher and Teacher (by Rev. Leonard S. 
Parker, of Ashburnham, Mass.), --------42 

Remarks of Rev. George Clark, of Oberlin, ----- 49 

Remarks of Rev. E. B. Sherwood, of St. Joseph, Mo., - - 51 
Remarks of Rev. C. C. Foote, of Detroit, ------52 

Remarks of Rev. Joseph Adams, 53 

Remarks of Prof. John Morgan, D.D., of Oberlin, - - - 56 
Remarks of Rev. Henry Cowles, D.D., of Oberlin, - - - 59 



iv Contents. 

PART III. 

CRITICAL ESTIMATES OF MR. FINNEY'S CHARACTER 
AND WORK. 

The Communicable Secrets of Mr. Finney's Power (by Rev. 
Arthur Tappan Pierson, D.D.), 62 

President Finney's Theological System and its General In- 
fluence (by Rev. George F. Wright, of Andover, Mass.), 68 



SERMON BY PRESIDENT FAIRCHILD. 
President Finney — the Preacher, the Teacher, and the Man, - y6 



PREFATORY NOTE 



a. resident Finney's death occurred August 16, 1875, two 
weeks subsequent to the College Commencement. At his 
burial the exercises were (as he would have wished them to 
be) brief and simple. A few extemporaneous remarks 
offered by the older members of the Theological Faculty 
were the only tribute then paid to his memory. 

It was natural that his numerous friends (especially those 
who could not be present at his burial) should desire that 
other and special services should be held in commemoration 
of his long and useful life. To gratify this desire the Fac- 
ulty of the College made arrangements for a " Memorial 
Meeting." The time chosen was Friday, July 28, 1876, the 
day preceding the Commencement in the Department of 
Theology. An invitation was extended to his " friends, con- 
verts, and pupils " throughout the land. A goodly number 
of them came ; others sent letters of regret. The spacious 
audience-room of the First Church, in which Mr. Finney had 
so often preached to listening multitudes, was well filled 
during the entire three long sessions devoted to these com- 
memorative exercises. 

The intense interest felt in the wonderful character that 
was variously portrayed by the different speakers was rather 
deepened than exhausted ; and the Memorial Baccalaureate 
Sermon delivered on the following Sunday, so far from being 
superfluous, seemed to all to be only a suitable complement 
to the exercises of the Memorial day. 

The speeches and written papers which are here pub- 
lished, are arranged not entirely in the order of their de- 
livery. For the convenience of the reader, the reminis- 



vi Prefatory Note. 

cences of those who knew Mr. Finney as an Evangelist 
previous to his coming to Oberlin, are brought together in 
the First Section ; while the Second embraces principally the 
recollections of his Oberlin associates and pupils. Dr. 
Pierson's study of Mr. Finney's character as a model Chris- 
tian laborer ; Rev. Mr. Wright's Analysis of his Theological 
System ; and President Fairchild's more comprehensive de- 
lineation of him as a the Preacher, the Teacher, and the 
Man," are naturally brought together in the concluding 
Section. 

Such a collection of sketches could not be expected to 
give a complete history of the life and work of Mr. Finney. 
It will not take the place of, nor diminish the demand for, a 
full and elaborate memoir. It is hoped, however, that, in 
connection with the Autobiography, it will enable the reader 
to form a measurably correct estimate of the character and 
labors of one who is destined to be held in remembrance 
hereafter as one of the greatest and best men of his time. 

Oberlin, September •, 1876. 



I. 

REMINISCENCES 

OF 

EARLY EVANGELISTIC LABORS. 



MR. FINNEY IN ROCHESTER AND WESTERN NEW YORK. 

[BY REV. CHARLES P. BUSH, D.D., OF NEW YORK CITY.] 

Mr. Finney's first labors in Rochester extended over a 
period of six months, in the fall and winter of 1830-31.* The 
place then contained about ten thousand inhabitants ; and it 
was estimated that eight hundred souls were converted in 
the revival which attended his labors. An awakening of like 
proportions in the same place now, would embrace six or 
seven thousand converts, and in New York city eighty thou- 
sand. Mr. Finney visited Rochester again in 1842, and a 
thousand were converted; and again in 1856, and near 
another thousand submitted themselves to the Lord. Move- 
ments so remarkable are surely worthy of special mention on 
this occasion. We shall speak more particularly of the first. 

There were then in Rochester three Presbyterian churches, 
one Baptist, two Methodist, and one Episcopal. Rev. Joseph 
Penney, an Irishman by birth and education, a ripe scholar, 



*The writer was at the time a student in the Rochester Academy; 
joined the Third church under Mr. Finney's ministry; heard almost 
every sermon which he preached in that first revival ; often talked of 
them, in after years, with others whose memory may have been more 
perfect than his own, and so feels confident as to the truth of state- 
ments made and incidents narrated. 



8 Reminiscences of 

and a most conservative and cautious man, was pastor of 
the First Presbyterian church ; Rev. William James, a highly- 
educated American, but equally conservative and cautious 
in his way, was over the Second, now called the Brick 
church ; while the Third had no pastor — Rev. Joel Parker, 
under whose ministry it had, in three years, grown from 
nothing to be a large and flourishing congregation, having 
left it but a few months before to take charge of what was 
then called the "First Free Church " of New York city. 

Mr. Finney was invited to Rochester by the elders of the 
Third church, influenced especially by Josiah Bissell, one of 
their own number, and a man of marvelous energy and enter- 
prise. But Mr. Finney was not at all inclined, at first, to 
accept the invitation. He called a council of his friends in 
Utica to help him consider the matter. They talked and 
prayed over it all one evening. The field was not regarded 
as inviting. There were difficulties and divisions in the 
churches. More promising invitations came from other 
directions, and his friends decided unanimously that it was 
his duty to go east and not west. 

So, at a late hour, the conference ended and Mr. Finney 
retired to his room ; but his own mind was not altogether 
satisfied. Quick as lightning, his thoughts went over the 
subject again, and every obstacle in the way of his going to 
Rochester seemed, on second thought, a good reason for 
visiting the place, and that at once. His plans were instantly 
changed, and next morning, before daylight, without stop- 
ping to communicate with one of his friends, he started west 
and not east. 

What Rochester might have been but for that marvelous 
change of purpose, it is impossible now to tell ; but we fear 
its history, even to the present time, would have been quite 
unlike that charming story which has been written. It seems 
as though the Lord must have had thoughts of special 
mercy for the place when He dropped those better counsels 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 9 

into the good man's mind, and so sent him to his nights 
repose. 

Mr. Finney's visit to Rochester excited the greatest inter- 
est at once. Crowds attended wherever he preached. The 
churches were not large enough to hold the multitudes that 
thronged to hear him. After the pews were all filled, the 
aisles and areas would be supplied with chairs and benches ; 
persons would sit as close as possible all over the pulpit 
stairs; and still others, men and women, and children, would 
stand wherever standing-room could be found, throughout a 
long and exhausting service. 

Most of the preaching was in the Third church, although 
other houses of worship were almost at once thrown open, 
and union meetings, especially on week day evenings, were 
held in others. It was manifestly of the Lord that Mr. 
Finney was able to secure the countenance and co-operation 
of those very conservative and cautious pastors ; as it was 
also to their credit that they received him as the messenger 
of God. 

An exciting incident, which came near being an awful 
calamity, occurred soon after the meetings began. A vast 
crowd were assembled one Friday evening, in the First 
church. Mr. Penney was leading in the opening prayer, 
when suddenly there was a crash in the singers' gallery. A 
portion of the ceiling had fallen upon the heads of the 
singers, and they were enveloped in a cloud of dust. 

In an instant, all was confusion, the audience evidently 
fearing that the building itself was falling. No one waited 
for another. The rush to get out the doors was fearful ; 
and some dashed through the windows, carrying sash and 
glass with them, cutting and maiming themselves as they 
went. One lady was trodden under foot in the doorway, 
and would have been crushed to death, if a giant of a man 
had not forced the crowd back for a moment and dragged 
her out of her perilous position. Of course, the uproar 
1* 



io Reminiscences of 

brought Mr. Penney's prayer to a sudden conclusion, and 
he, too, was out of the house quicker than we can tell it; but 
Mr. Finney stood in the pulpit, stretched out his long arm 
over the surging throng, and cried at the top of his voice : 
"Keep still! keep still! there is no danger." 

But there was danger, and the people would not keep still. 
The house was emptied in a few moments ; and it was found 
on examination that the walls had settled and separated, so 
as to let fall upon the plastering above the singers' seats, a 
loose bit of scantling left by some careless workman among 
the timbers of the roof; and it was thought that if the pressure 
had remained but a few moments longer upon the galleries, 
the whole structure would have been down upon our heads. 
It would seem as though a large part of the audience must 
have been killed instantly, and others mangled and maimed 
for life, if they had not taken the alarm as they did. It may 
be that He who guides the sparrow's fall allowed that bit of 
timber to be left as it was, on purpose to give us warning. 

That church edifice was condemned, and was not used any 
more during the revival ; but it was mercifully ordered that 
by this the work should not be checked, although the even- 
ing audiences were very sensitive for a time. Quite a panic 
was occasioned soon after, in the Third church, merely 
by the slamming of a pew-door. The audience were on 
their feet, and utter confusion reigned for a few moments. 
Some rushed into the street. One man dashed through a 
window, fell upon the stone steps of the basement of the 
house, and was nearly killed. But still the work went 
on. 

Mr. Finney generally preached three times on the Sabbath 
and two or three evenings of each week, besides frequently 
visiting some neighboring town to give a sermon in the after- 
noon. Added to all this, he held frequent inquiry-meetings 
and private interviews with the anxious, often at work until 
near midnight and up and at it again in the early morning. 



Early Evangelistic Labors. ii 

The amount of hard work, for brain and muscle, performed 
by that man in those six months was something prodig- 
ious. 

At first his preaching was addressed almost exclusively to 
professors of religion, with hardly a word for some time to 
the impenitent; but the duties and responsibilities of a 
Christian life were so portrayed as absolutely to amaze and 
frighten the cold and backslidden professor. The sins of 
worldliness, lukewarmness, and neglect of duty were set in 
startling colors. There was indeed something fearful in 
those sermons, so searching, scorching, withering; and yet 
no one could find fault with them, for they were drawn 
directly from the Word of God. He had a " Thus saith the 
Lord " for every statement ; and the Holy Spirit was evi- 
dently attending every word spoken and carrying conviction 
to every mind. Indeed, the very atmosphere of the place 
seemed surcharged with the solemnity of eternity ; and- there 
was in the speaker the dignity and majesty of one of the old 
prophets. His words were like names of fire. False hopes 
were consumed like tow by their touch. Backsliders were 
brought trembling and astonished to the feet of the Saviour 
to ask for mercy. Reconciliations were effected among 
estranged brethren. Confessions, sad and pitiable, fell from 
penitent lips. Forgiveness was sought and found at the 
•mercy-seat. All were melted together in love and new con- 
secration to the Master. 

This was preliminary work, attended with groans and 
tears. Strong men, prominent members and officers of the 
churches, made public confession of their sins, their incon- 
sistencies, and especially of their great guilt in caring so little 
for the prosperity of Zion, and doing so little for the salva- 
tion of sinners around them. The sermon from the text, 
"Am I my brothers keeper?" and that from the words, 
" Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire," made 
a prodigious impression ; and the confession, full of anguish, 



12 Reminiscences of 

wrung from many an agonized heart was, " We are verily 
guilty concerning our brother." 

The church being thus shaken as by an earthquake, and 
Christians aroused to pray fervently for God's blessing, Mr. 
Finney was prepared to preach to sinners. He began with 
the law, showing what its requirements are, what its penalty, 
and how just they are, how absolutely necessary to the order 
and stability of the universe ; how even the law itself, as 
really as the Gospel, demonstrates the goodness of the divine 
Being; and therefore how fearful a thing it must be to sin 
against such a law-giver and against all the interests of the 
universe. 

There was something fearful in those sermons also. In- 
deed, it almost makes one shudder, even after this lapse of 
years, to recall some of them — that especially from the text, 
" The wages of sin is death." The preacher's imagination 
was as vivid as his logic was inexorable. After laying down 
self-evident principles of human nature and divine govern- 
ment, then drawing out Scripture truth touching the same, 
making all plain and irresistible by argument and illustra- 
tion, how he rung the changes on that word " wages," as he de- 
scribed the condition of the lost soul : " You will get your 
' wages' ; just what you have earned, your due; nothing 
more, nothing less ; and as the smoke of your torment, like 
a thick cloud, ascends forever and ever, you will see written 
upon its curling folds, in great staring letters of light, this 
awful word, wages, wages, wages ! " 

As the preacher uttered this sentence, he stood at his full 
height, tall and majestic — stood as if transfixed, gazing and 
pointing toward the emblazoned cloud, as it seemed to roll 
up before him ; his clear, shrill voice rising to its highest 
pitch, and penetrating every nook and corner of the vast as- 
sembly. People held their breath. Every heart stood still. 
It was almost enough to raise the dead — there were no sleep- 
ers within the sound of that clarion voice. 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 13 

And yet that same mighty man, when speaking of the love 
of Christ or the peril of the soul in its sins, was as great in 
tenderness and pity as before in majesty and truth; moved 
himself to tears and entreaties enough to break a heart of 
stone. Many seem to think of him only as the stern, uncom- 
promising preacher of righteousness. He was that, and 
more also — a Paul in doctrine, but touching and tender as John 
himself in his delineations of divine love. But he did not 
preach love as a mere instinct, or a weak, mawkish, and in- 
discriminating sentiment. His God was not all pity; but 
also a God of majesty and of law and of justice — His love all 
the more glorious because intelligent, and because it saves 
from wrath deserved. 

We once saw a young man lying at full length upon the 
floor of Mr. Finney's room, his face almost black with rage, 
as he cursed God and cursed the day of his birth, as though 
possessed of the evil one ; Mr. Finney meantime walking 
the floor, wringing his hands and groaning aloud as he fer- 
vently prayed that that enraged bull of Bashan might not 
break through all restraint ; blaspheme the Holy Ghost, and 
so be cast off forever. 

This youth, who was proud and skeptical, but apparently 
under deep conviction of sin, had come in to converse 
with the minister. Of course, the conversation was plain and 
searching. The young man found all the bulwarks of his in- 
fidelity falling flat around him ; they could not stand for a 
moment against the battering rams of a true logic. The 
poor stripling was confounded and vexed, but not subdued ; 
and yet he had consented to kneel to be prayed for, and the 
minister had used some pretty plain language in this service 
also, telling the Lord how proud and foolish and rebellious 
this pretended inquirer was. When the prayer was ended, 
the young re an was so beside himself with enmity and rage 
that, instead of rising from his knees, he rolled over on the 
floor, cursing and swearing like Peter — only more so. 



14 Reminiscences of 

But the good man's prayer prevailed ; the youth did not 
blaspheme the Holy Ghost ; he grew more calm ; accepted 
the truth, and has been a consistent and honored member of 
the Church from that day to this. 

It will be remembered that the year 1831 was a season of 
marvelous religious influences throughout the land ; but in 
few places, if in any, was the work so remarkable as in and 
around Rochester. We have already given the number of 
converts as eight hundred ; but that figure is far too small if 
we include the surrounding towns, in many of which Mr. 
Finney preached more or less, whilst all drew much of their 
inspiration from what was going on there. One hundred and 
fifty that year were received into the First Presbyterian 
church of the city — ninety- two at one time. One hundred 
and eleven were added to the Second church ; and one hun- 
dred and forty to the Third. The Baptist, Methodist, and 
Episcopal Churches also gathered large harvests. The Pres- 
byterian church in the neighboring town of Penfield received 
thirty-nine new members ; Pittsford about the same number ; 
Bergen one hundred ; Clarkson the same ; Ogden one hun- 
dred and thirty ; and other towns in like proportion. Over 
twelve hundred new members were added that year to 
the churches of Rochester Presbytery alone, beside the 
great ingathering on the same field into churches of other 
denominations. 

But the grandeur of that work is not to be estimated by 
numbers alone. The whole community was stirred. Relig- 
ion was the one topic of conversation, in the house, 
in the shop, in the office, and on the street. The soul's 
interests were uppermost in all minds. God was near; 
eternity real ; the judgment sure. Noise and confusion and 
lawlessness gave place to quiet and order and comfort. Thp 
only theatre in the city was converted into a livery stable ; 
the only circus into a soap and candle factory. Grog shops 
were closed ; the Sabbath was honored ; the sanctuaries were 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 15 

thronged with happy worshipers; a new impulse was given 
to every philanthropic enterprise ; the fountains of benev- 
olence were opened, and men lived to do good. 

And it is worthy of special notice that a large number of 
the leading men of the place were among the converts — the 
lawyers, the judges, physicians, merchants, bankers, and 
master mechanics. These classes were more moved from 
the very first than any other. Tall oaks were bowed as by 
the blast of the hurricane. Skeptics and scoffers were 
brought in, and a large number of the most promising of the 
young men. It is said that no less than forty of them 
entered the ministry. We have known some of them who 
have not lived in vain ; and some have finished their work 
and gone to their reward ; whilst others are still bearing the 
heat and burden of the day. 

It is not too much to say that the whole character of the 
city was changed by that revival. Most of the leaders of so- 
ciety being converted, and exerting a controlling influence 
in social life, in business, and in civil affairs, religion was en- 
throned as it has been in few other places. The city has 
been famous ever since for its high moral tone, its strong 
churches, its evangelical and earnest ministry, its frequent 
and powerful, revivals of religion. It always has " the smell 
of a field which the Lord hath blest ; " and those who know 
the place best ascribe much of all the good which has 
characterized it to the shaping and controlling influence of 
that first grand revival. Even the courts and the prisons 
bore witness to its blessed effects. There was a wonderful 
falling off in crime. The courts had little to do, and the jail 
was nearly empty for years afterward. 

Of course, the young people of the place had before been 
sufficiently vain and foolish. Indeed, there were young men 
there who prided themselves on knowing how to do the gay 
and festive a little better than anybody else. They had been 
accustomed to open the winter's festivities with a grand ball ; 



1 6 Reminiscences of 

but this revival was likely to make their dancing an uphill 
business. They took the alarm and began to consider what 
to do to resist the rising tide. Not to be thwarted in their 
pleasures, they rushed around, got out their invitations post- 
haste, and anticipated the time of holding the ball by a 
month ; but it was a stale and melancholy affair ; and in less 
than another month the managers were all converted, and re- 
nounced their dancing forever. Some of them are leading 
members of Christian churches to-day and know whereof we 
affirm. 

It will be inferred that Mr. Finney could read character. 
It would seem, indeed, as though no man ever knew the 
human heart better, or could more successfully explore its 
secret recesses of wrong and deceit. Able and acute men 
were often astonished to see how much better he knew them 
than they knew themselves. A single question, or even a 
look from his great searching eyes, would turn their very 
hearts inside out, and reveal to themselves depths of wicked- 
ness of which they had not dreamed before. 

A conceited young infidel, attracted chiefly by curiosity, 
came into the inquiry-room. Mr. Finney approached him 
with some solemn questions touching his soul's interest 
Instantly the young man bristled up for an argument against 
the truths of Christianity. The great preacher saw at a 
glance that the tyro merely wished to display himself. He 
had no time to witness such a silly pageant, as a hundred 
anxious inquirers were waiting for him ; he therefore gave 
the fledgling just one look of mingled scorn and pity, and 
passed on. 

No medicine ever touched the diseased spot more speedily 
than that look reached that man's guilty conscience. He saw 
in a moment that the man of God had read him through and 
through; that his immense conceit, and his palpable insin- 
cerity, had not so much as a gauze veil over them, and he 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 17 

was confounded. Instantly, his own sinfulness was revealed 
to hirri as never before. From that moment, he was struck 
under genuine conviction; was soon converted, and thanked 
Mr. Finney for that reproving glance. He spoke of the con- 
summate wisdom of that silent rebuke, and freely acknowl- 
edged that nothing else could have touched him, or so soon 
have brought him to his senses. 

Another youth came to him with the catechism. He had 
there learned that the " elect " alone are to be saved ; he did 
not know as he was one of the elect ; and he did not see any 
use trying to get religion until he knew that. Mr. Finney 
told him to put away his catechism and go to his Bible, and 
he would there find it written long before the catechism was 
made, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
saved " — u that is catechism enough for you ; at least for the 
present." The young man took the advice and had no 
further trouble. He has long been an able and successful 
pastor in the Presbyterian Church. He preaches both Scrip- 
ture and catechism, and God has been pleased to use him as 
the instrument of many conversions. 

It was in Rochester that Mr. Finney first used what was 
called the "anxious seat." He had already labored for six 
years as an Evangelist, and great numbers had been con- 
verted under his preaching. He had sometimes called upon 
those who were anxious, to stand up for a few moments in 
the congregation, as an expression of their desire for special 
prayer in their behalf. But he had begun to feel that that 
was not enough. He wanted something more demonstra- 
tive; something which should more fully commit the soul to 
the Lord, and help to break down its pride and the fear of 
man. We believe it is the general experience, that we 
all first want religion without letting anybody know it; 
ashamed to confess to our fellow-men that which they already 
know; ashamed publicly to ask forgiveness for sins and 
crimes publicly committed; and so thousands carry their 



iS Reminiscences of 

load in secret, as they flatter themselves, and die with their 
sins upon them. 

To help the sinner to break these shackles of pride and 
fear, Mr. Finney conceived the idea of calling the anxious 
forward to special seats vacated for them in front of the 
pulpit, there to kneel before the whole assembly whilst prayer 
should be offered particularly for them. This was a hard 
thing for some of the proud men of that city to do ; and yet 
the result showed that there was profound philosophy and 
consummate wisdom in it. It would seem as though nothing 
less would have sufficed for some of them, to crucify their 
enormous pride and enable them to receive the grace of life. 
It certainly produced a profound sensation, to see some of 
the first lawyers and judges of the place, some of the fore- 
most merchants and " chief women " thus humbling them- 
selves before their fellow-citizens and asking for mercy, like 
the very Magdalens and the chiefest of sinners. It plainly 
helped to swell the excitement and roll on the work. 

Mr. Finney's method of conducting an inquiry-meeting is 
worthy of special mention. He allowed no confusion, no 
loud talking, no moving about, except as he passed quietly 
from one to another, asking a few questions in a subdued tone 
of voice, and addressing to each a few words of instruction 
and admonition. He did not commit this most difficult and 
delicate business to all alike ; although he did sometimes call 
to his aid a few well-chosen friends, of ripe Christian experi- 
ence. But it would have distressed him beyond measure to 
see inexperienced and ignorant men, women, and children 
rushing indiscriminately to this service, saying, perhaps, the 
very worst things possible to an inquiring soul, dissipating 
conviction and encouraging false hopes. If ever wisdom is 
needed on earth, it is in the inquiry-room. 

When Mr. Finney met a case of peculiar interest, he 
might, indeed, stop and call attention to it before going 
further; might make it the occasion of exact and definite 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 19 

instruction, and then commend the individual to God in 
special prayer. But the solemnity of eternity always brooded 
over those meetings. Common talk was excluded. All felt 
that God was there ; and that immortal souls were in peril 
and in anguish ; and Mr. Finney moved about as the thought- 
ful physician moves in the room of the sick and the dying. 

Nobody knows better than those who loved and admired 
this good man most, that he had his peculiarities — what 
great man has not ? But we believe he was never accused 
of levity or insincerity. He was a plain, blunt man, that 
spake right on, and always meant just what he said. His 
soul abhorred deceit and hypocrisy. Perhaps it is not too 
much to say, that he saw the truth in greater clearness, and 
more fully appreciated its value and importance, than most 
men could. He was, in fact, a giant in intellect, in the 
grandeur of his thoughts and purposes, and in the sublime 
force of his character, and this was enough to justify some 
of his peculiarities. 

It is said, that he told one of the elders of the church at 
Adams, before he was converted, that Christians generally 
did not half believe what they professed. " If ever I become 
a Christian," he said, " I shall go into it with all my might " 
— and he did. That is, he went to work as though he really 
believed that God had a right to all his powers; and as though 
men around him were really sinners, going down to death 
eternal ; and as though something ought to be done for their 
salvation. Hence, like Paul, he began at once to " warn 
every one night and day with tears;" and with the Bible 
in his hand he could not see why this was not the proper 
thing to do. And he could never bear lukewarmness, and 
laziness, and half-way measures while infinite interests were 
at stake. He was simply in earnest, as Paul was, when he 
could even wish himself accursed from Christ for his breth- 
ren, his kinsmen, according to the flesh ; or as Christ was, 
when He made his soul an offering for sin. 



20 Reminiscences of 

Suppose we grant that he did not always weigh his words 
as more cautious mortals might have done. How could he, 
and still be that son of thunder, that whip of scorpions which 
the times demanded ? No milder character could have 
stirred all Central and Western New York as he did. He 
was manifestly raised up for the occasion, and clothed with 
power according to its need ; " peculiarities " and " eccen- 
tricities M included, if any so insist. And it is not too much 
to say, that he introduced a new era in preaching, the era of 
simplicity, directness, and earnestness; looking for definite 
and iir, mediate results. He discarded technical terms, and 
talked to the people, so that they knew that he meant them, 
and was talking about their interests ; and that they were 
guilty and in danger, and had something to do to escape the 
wrath to come. And yet Mr. Finney's peculiarities have 
been greatly exaggerated. He did not say or do one-tenth 
part of the queer things ascribed to him. His weak 
imitators sometimes harmed him. They did queer things, 
and he had the credit of them. 

Besides, it was simply impossible even for some ministers 
at that time to judge Mr. Finney justly; they were so far 
behind him in zeal, in consecration ; his life was, in fact, 
such a scathing rebuke to their indolence and indifference, 
not to say worldliness and want of adaptation to the work 
of the ministry. He did not say, ci Come and see my zeal 
for the Lord of hosts;" but men did see it, and it provoked 
envy and detraction, from which he often suffered and by 
which his work was sometimes hindered. 

Besides, again, Mr. Finney tried to adapt his instructions 
to the times, and that crossed the prejudices of many staid 
and excellent men. He came, like John the Baptist, preach- 
ing repentance. The churches in all that region had had a 
surfeit of " inability," and " election," and " divine sov- 
ereignty." Most of the religious teaching had somehow 
given the impression, whether intended or not, that we 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 21 

have little or nothing to do with our own salvation, ex- 
cept to " wait God's time " — if He sees fit to come and 
convert us He will ; if not, we can't help it ; we must 
perish. 

It had also come to pass that sin was generally regarded 
as more a misfortune than a fault ; it was inherited ; it came 
with our blood, and we could not help it. But one of Mr. 
Finney's earliest sermons was from the words, " O Israel, 
thou hast destroyed thyself;" from which he taught us that 
sinners are the guilty authors of their own destruction ; not 
the innocent victims of a terrible calamity. And here he 
explained the nature of sin, as a transgression of the law ; 
rebellion against divine authority ; the foolish, wicked choice 
of our own way in preference to God's way. 

And then, as to our inability, he said, " Behold, I set 
before you life and death; therefore choose life." You can 
choose life, or God would not have commanded it; you 
must choose life, or perish forever. Or he would say, " Be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
You can believe, or the command is unjust ; you must be- 
lieve, or be lost. And then he would tell us what true faith 
was, and what it was not ; illustrating it in various ways, 
and turning it over and over, until even the blind could see 
that faith is a voluntary act ; our own act ; and that no one 
else, not even God Himself, could believe for us ; and so 
also that unbelief is a voluntary act and a sin. 

But no one of his sermons was at first so new and startling 
as that from the words, " Make you a new heart and a new 
spirit ; for why will ye die ?" — Sinners bound to make them- 
selves new hearts ! Many had supposed that they could as 
soon create a new world as do that. But Mr. Finney made 
the duty plain, and thousands found it entirely practicable. 

And then as to waiting God's time, he said, You have 
waited too long already. " Now is the accepted time ; now 
is the day of salvation." You need not wait for God ; He 



22 Reminiscences of 

is waiting for you ; and " God now commandeth all men, 
everywhere, to repent." That is your first and absolute 
duty ; and if so, of course you have all the powers neces- 
sary for the performance of that duty, and every moment 
you delay it you are rebelling against God, and doing de- 
spite to the spirit of His grace. 

This preaching was like a new revelation to many. It 
startled them from the sleep of long and miserable years of 
indolent waiting and guilty inaction. It was also a gleam 
of hope to many who had been on the borders of despair, 
supposing that there was nothing for them to do, and seeing 
no hope that God would interpose in their behalf. 

And yet Mr. Finney did not overlook or slight this other 
essential truth, " Not by might nor by power, but by my 
Spirit, saith the Lord." He constantly and emphatically 
taught that " the excellency of the power is of God, and not 
of us." He claimed nothing for himself. He was but the 
instrument in the Divine hand. All the arguments and en- 
treaties possible from human lips, could not convert a single 
soul without the Spirit's agency. No minister ever taught 
this doctrine more distinctly or more emphatically. And 
yet he did not so hold it as to destroy man's accountability, 
or to excuse or palliate his sins. He did not teach that the 
Spirit's influences were needed to create new faculties in us, 
but only to lead us to use aright the powers we already have ; 
just exactly as the great President Edwards taught long be- 
fore, although he was not always consistent with himself. 

Mr. Finney was a " New School " man, a moderate Cal- 
vinist, orthodox to the core on the cardinal doctrines of that 
system, the divinity of Christ, the atonement, man's utter 
sinfulness, his need of regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and 
his salvation by grace alone. And his converts have run 
well ; although some did, indeed, fall off — some did in Ed- 
wards' day, some in Nettleton's ; but most of those con- 
verted in the great revival of which we speak have stood 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 23 

the test of time, and some of them have been eminent in 
usefulness. Indeed, they have constituted a large portion of 
the intelligence, the wisdom, and efficiency of the churches 
of Central and Western New York from that day to this, 
whilst many are scattered in other parts of the country, and 
some even in other lands, working for the Master. 

When Mr. Finney visited Rochester the second time, 
which was in 1842, he was on his way from Providence, 
R. I., where he had been laboring for some time, to his 
home in Oberlin. He was thoroughly worn down with 
work, and greatly needed a season of rest. He stopped, 
as he supposed, for a day only, to gather a little strength 
before going further. As soon, however, as it was known 
that he was there, he was beset with invitations to stay and 
preach. And what was very remarkable, the first one who 
approached him on the subject was an unconverted lawyer, 
a judge of the highest court of the State. This was *soon 
followed by a written request from leading members of the 
bar, that a course of lectures might be given to lawyers, par- 
ticularly adapted to their modes of thought and their need. 
Mr. Finney gladly consented to this, and many of them were 
converted, the eminent judge referred to being the first to 
come out on the Lord's side. His conversion was very 
striking in its circumstances, and made a profound impres- 
sion on the whole community. Other leading citizens and 
" chief women not a few," were brought in. 

At his third and last effort in Rochester, which was in 
1855— '56, the lawyers again asked for a course of lectures to 
their profession, the request being signed by two judges of 
the Court of Appeals. To this Mr. Finney consented, as 
before, and many of the first citizens of the place who had 
passed through the former revivals, now embraced the great 
salvation. 

In his Autobiography, that wonderful book, which is preach- 
ing far and wide almost as the great Evangelist did while 



24 Reminiscences of 

living, Mr. Finney makes this record : " What was quite re- 
markable in the three revivals that I have witnessed in 
Rochester, they all commenced and made their first progress 
among the higher classes of society. This," he adds, " was 
very favorable to the general spread of the work and the 
overcoming of opposition." And again he says, " I never 
preached anywhere with more pleasure than in Rochester. 
They are a highly intelligent people, and have ever mani- 
fested a candor, an earnestness, and an appreciation of the 
truth, excelling anything I have seen, on so large a scale, in 
any other place." 

Mr. Finney thought well of Rochester, and he loved to 
talk of those revivals to the very last. Indeed, hardly any- 
thing, in his old age, would rouse him more. He would in- 
quire affectionately after one and another of his dear chil- 
dren in the Lord ; where they were, what they were doing, 
what* especially was their spiritual condition, whether or not 
they were true to their early professions, and still laboring 
with their might in the Lord's vineyard. And then he would 
go over some of those early scenes, relating incidents with 
the greatest minuteness and accuracy — how one and another 
fought against his convictions, but was finally subdued by 
Divine grace. 

The people of Rochester and of all Western New York, 
ought to think well of Mr. Finney. Indeed, they owe him 
a debt of gratitude which they can never repay. As godli- 
ness hath promise of the life that now is, as well as of that 
which is to come, thousands and tens of thousands are really 
indebted, under God, to his blessed influence and instruction 
for what they are and what they possess for this world, as well 
as for the hope of the life everlasting. 

He met them in their peril ; warned them of their danger ; 
pointed them to paths of peace and safety. Thousands 
gave up their unlawful pursuits and crooked ways, escaped 
from the snares in which their feet were already entangled, 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 25 

and became sober, industrious, and virtuous citizens. It is 
not too much to say, that thousands are indebted to that 
wonderful man for their success in life ; for position, com- 
petence, influence, home, kindred, friends, and daily joys. 
What miserable shipwreck many of them might have made, 
both for this world and the next, if he had not so met them 
and moved them by his mighty influence, it is not difficult 
to conjecture. Is it too much to expect that some of those 
thus favored will show their gratitude by their works ? 

Although this memorial day is not intended as an occa- 
sion for raising money, yet it may not be amiss just to say 
in closing, that a project has been started by some of Mr. 
Finney's early friends outside of Oberlin, to found a profes- 
sorshio in this institution, to bear his honored name, to per- 
petuate his memory and his influence. It has seemed to 
them the fittest monument that could be erected to the man. 
And even in these troublous times some generous subscrip- 
tions have already been made to the object. Others are 
hoped for and confidently expected. Indeed, the project is 
manifestly too good an one to fail. It needs only to be 
stated to commend itself to every one's sympathy and 
approval. 

But it can not, and should not, long be delayed. The 
institution needs it, and needs it now. Besides, Mr. Finney's 
early friends are passing away. What they do should be 
done quickly. Fervently do we hope that this memorial 
service may in some way favor and hasten the consumma- 
tion of a project so just and so important. 



REMARKS OF REV. R. L. STANTON, D.D., OF CINCINNATI. 

Dr. Bush and myself were boys together in Rochester; 
and while he has spoken of the whole of Mr. Finney's work 
there at different periods, what I have to say must be con- 
fined to his first visit, which occurred in the latter part of the 
2 



26 Reminiscences of 

year 1S30. We had heard of his labors in the farther east ; and 
a great many stories preceded him concerning his methods of 
work, which created some prejudice against him, so that 
some apprehension was felt about inviting him. 

He began his labors in the Third Presbyterian church, the 
pulpit of which was then vacant, and which was situated on 
the east side of the Genesee river. 

My mother was a member of the First Presbyterian church, 
of which Dr. Penney was then pastor; and which, together 
with the Second Presbyterian church, was situated on the 
west side of the river. 

The First and Second churches both stood aloof at first, 
and it was felt that one would lose caste by going to hear 
him. But my mother was very anxious to hear him ; and 
she concluded to go, as Nicodemus did, by night, and she 
disguised herself and took a back seat. She went the second 
time with less fear, and was favorably impressed, and the 
third time took me with her; and from that time, I think, I 
attended all the public services which he held during the six 
or seven months of his sojourn, and there were several every 
day. I was then a boy, and rather inclined to infidel senti- 
ments ; but on the first Sabbath of January 1831, I stood up 
in the Second church, of which Dr. Wisner was pastor, and 
made a public profession of religion. 

I was present in the First church when the catastrophe 
occurred which Dr. Bush has described. It was regarded 
by many as a sort of judgment on that church, that they 
might be driven out to meet with other congregations. I 
never saw Mr. Finney after the labors of that winter and 
spring were over. I never had any particular personal inter- 
course with him. 

Indeed, when I heard him preach that winter, I stood in 
fear of him. I have heard many of the great preachers of 
the day, and I regard him as the greatest preacher that I 
have ever heard. 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 27 

I should say that Mr. Finney was a severe preacher. He 
held up the law as I never heard it held up before or 
since. He gave such delineations of sin as would make men 
literally tremble in their seats. The preaching of the present 
day would, I think, be more effective had it more of this 
element. On the other hand, I have never heard such 
exhibitions of the love of Christ. 

I recollect hearing him preach a sermon on the text, " The 
wages of sin is death." I timed him, and he preached two 
hours. I never heard such delineations of the terrible wrath 
of God. I heard that he preached from the same text in 
neighboring towns three solid hours. 

I think Mr. Finney introduced a new style of preaching. 
The first three-fourths of his sermon was in a colloquial 
style ; and in the latter part he would make such appeals as 
T never listened to anywhere. He was a thorough believer in 
the depravity of the human heart. I remember of hearing 
him preach from the text, " The carnal mind is enmity 
against God." The heads of his discourse were as follows: 
1. Men in their natural state do not love God. 2. All men 
in their natural state hate God. 3. All men in their natural 
state hate God with a perfect hatred. 4. Their hatred of 
God is such that, if they could, they would drive Him from 
his throne 

There was an auctioneer in Rochester who was a shrewd 
man, and who was as glib in uttering the common plati- 
tudes of infidelity as he was as an auctioneer. He was at 
the head of an infidel club. After Mr. Finney came to 
Rochester that man was converted, and the whole club was 
converted 

My mother and three other ladies had a strong desire that 
certain prominent men should be brought under the power 
of the Gospel ; and they agreed to meet regularly every day 
and pray for a leading lawyer, who was an infidel, but a gen- 
tleman. They continued to pray for him several weeks, 



jS Reminiscences of 

though nothing was said to him or to any one outside of 
their circle. But when he went to his office one morning 
he was in a strange state of mind. He could give no atten- 
tion to his books and papers, and so he continued for several 
days. At last he began to think that possibly he was a sub- 
ject of the influences of God's Spirit ; and he was at length 
brought to bow at the feet of Jesus, and ever after that used 
the influence of his high position for true religion. I have 
often thought of this case, and have wished that the state- 
ment of it might be made to Professor John Tyndal, and 
that he might be asked to explain it. Many like instances 
occurred that winter. 

I, as well as my brother Pierson, have belonged to the 
Old School Presbyterian Church. After my education was 
completed I went far South, and geographically was thrown 
into the Old School Church. You know how you have 
been regarded by the Old School. But I have ever felt the 
warmest affection for the work you are all doing here. When 
I came here this time, I was struck with the wonderful 
progress that you had made. While living in the South, I 
was never ashamed to acknowledge that I was a Yankee, 
and that I approved of the principles which you advocate 
here. You have here a vast fountain and mine of wealth 
established forty years ago ; but I think the time has come 
when the wealth of which you have little, should pour into 
this fountain of learning. I do not know a better time for 
founding a Finney professorship; and I hope our good 
brethren who have wealth will remember you with liberal 
donations. I say, in conclusion, God bless Oberlin ! and 
God bless you all ! 

REMARKS OF REV. DR. PIERSON, OF DETROIT. 

I want to contribute now a word of personal reminiscence, 
and that a unique one. I have been referred to as an Old 
School Presbyterian; but, I think, you will find that I was 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 29 

not born that way. My father was the cashier and intimate 
friend of Arthur Tappan. Before my birth, for months my 
father and mother were in constant attendance on the serv- 
ices of Mr. Finney in the Chatham Street chapel, New York. 
They occupied the very house beneath which, by an arch- 
way, the throngs poured into the chapel. The impression 
then made upon my mother's mind, determined her to con- 
secrate me to the work of the ministry ; and from my birth 
I never knew any hour when I was converted, and when I 
did not expect to be a minister. 



REMARKS OF REV. JOHN P. AVERY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO. 

Forty-nine years ago, in my native town of New Lebanon 
N. Y., I made Mr. Finney's acquaintance. He came to our 
rural town from the city of Troy. He was introduced to 
our place through the conversion of a prominent young lady, 
who went to Troy to purchase a new ball-dress, and instead 
of the new dress, brought back a new heart. It was a case 
of such mark that it interested the whole community. But 
there was some prejudice against him ; and having been 
invited by the pastor of the church, an opposition was raised 
by the worldly part of the community, which took the form 
of getting up a new-year's ball. I was then a youth of six- 
teen, and inclined to places of hilarity. I started for the 
ball-room, but was strangely drawn to the prayer-meeting. 
Nearly all who attended the ball were afterwards converted. 

I listened to Mr. Finney's first sermon. The town had 
churches, composed principally of godly women, while most 
of their husbands were trusting in their morality. 

His text was : " For I say unto you, that except your 
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." 

I remember distinctly the plan of the sermon. First, he 



30 Reminiscences of 

showed how punctilious and high were the works of the 
Pharisees ; then he contrasted these with the good works of 
moral men at the present day ; and then he enforced it upon 
his hearers that unless they exceeded these they could not 
be ^aved. It seemed to excite hostility all over the commu- 
nity. The next day it was reported that Mr. Finney had 
come there to preach down morality. But # there were some 
leading men who laid it to heart, and were converted. One 
had been a Unitarian, and had great influence ; and when 
he came out, it produced a great effect. 

Another was a physician, a man in many things like Mr. 
Finney. He began early to oppose Mr. Finney, and tried 
to get every one to hear another preacher. Finally, his op- 
position seemed to have come to a crisis, and he took his 
seat one Sabbath in the choir. I saw Mr. Finney take the 
Bible and change his text. He preached from the words, 
" For God so loved the world/* etc. It was an overwhelming, 
melting discourse; and I think the doctor, with many others, 
were brought to a stand. 

In the afternoon he presented himself again, and the text 
was, a How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? " 
In the evening, he came the third time, and the text was, 
" And they made light of it." 

The lady who had been converted in Troy, turned to him 
and putting her hand on him, said : " Doctor, will you go 
away and make light of this to-night ? " 

"No," said he, "I will not." 

And he did not. He rose and said : tl My friends, my in- 
fidel associates, my boon companions, look at me and see 
this iron frame tremble like an aspen leaf. It is God. I am 
' a sinner." 

The father of this young lady, who had been praying for 
him, and the whole congregation, dropped upon their knees 
and gave thanks to God. We learned subsequently that the 
doctor was so affected that he sprang from his bed at mid- 






Early Evangelistic Labors. 31 

night, saying to his wife, " I can not live so, and I will not 
if there is any way to get out of it." He went over to his 
Unitarian neighbor, who had been converted, and got advice 
of him. After his conversion, opposition, like a dam, broke 
away, and all rushed in, and the whole place seemed to be 
swept. Hardly any men of note were left. 

This physician became one of the most faithful and child- 
like of Christians, and has continued faithful to this hour. 
He is a venerable- looking man ; and in a recent revival, as 
deacon of the church, he held the vase while eighty were 
baptized. I have had opportunities of observing the results 
of the revivals in many places under Mr. Finney's labors, 
and I think that these are more permanent than those of 
most revivals. 

As for myself, I was profoundly interested in every sermon, 
supposing that he meant me in every word he said. But 
when he took the text, " He that is ashamed of Me before 
men," etc., I was thoroughly bound up in it. In the morn- 
ing when I called on him, he said, "What is the matter with 
you?" I replied, that I was rolled up in that sermon. 
" What ! have you been ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ ? " 
Before I left him I think the great decision was made and 
uttered : " I never will be ashamed of the Lord Jesus again." 
Of course, I became intensely interested in Mr. Finney ; 
and in many respects, through the grace of God, I owe 
everything to him. I love him, I venerate him, and hope 
to meet him hereafter. 



REMARKS OF HON. WM. E. DODGE, OF NEW YORK CITY. 

I esteem it a very great privilege, dear Christian friends, 
to be with you to-day, and with you follow the life and the 
labors of this dear sainted friend. It was my privilege in 
early life, while living in the State of Connecticut from 1818 
to 1826, to be intimately familiar with the labors of Mr. 



3a Reminiscences of 

Nettleton and his fellow-helpers during those years. In 1826 
I moved to the city of New York; and in 1828 I married 
the daughter of Anson G. Phelps. He had been watching 
with great interest the progress of the revivals in the West 
under Mr. Finney. Coming from the great revivals of New 
England, I also took every opportunity to learn what Mr, 
Finney was doing. 

In the year 1830 Mr. Phelps opened a correspondence with 
Dr. Lansing, of Auburn, and through him, succeeded in in- 
ducing Mr. Finney to come to New York. The fact that Mr. 
Nettleton and Dr. Beecherhad spoken against the measures 
used by Mr. Finney, had led the clergy of New York, as well as 
in many other places, to look upon his labors with great 
anxiety and suspicion. 

Mr. Finney came to New York in 1830, and with him 
came Dr. Lansing, of Auburn, and Dr. Beman, of Troy. 
They all came to Mr. Phelps' house, and there Mr. Finney 
remained. 

(Consequently we all became very intimate with him and 
also intensely interested, both in him and his lovely, talented 
wife. She was a devoted wife and mother, an earnest Chris- 
tian, and, in every sense, his helpmeet). 

It was at Mr. Phelps' house that, for a week, these breth- 
ren I have named held a succession of prayer-meetings with 
reference to the work that Mr. Finney was going to com- 
mence in New York. The Presbyterian churches in New 
York were very much under the influence of what was known 
as the old Calvinistic doctrines, and these new measures were 
accordingly looked upon by them with very great suspicion. 
The fact was, that there was not a Presbyterian church, or 
any other church, that would invite Mr. Finney. Mr. Phelps 
hired a Presbyterian church which was to let in Vandewater 
street. In the course of three months it was ascertained 
that a Universalist church in the neighborhood of Niblo's 
Garden was for sale, and it was purchased. There Mr. 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 33 

Finney preached for about fifteen months. It is not neces- 
sary for me to go over the plans, and measures, and sermons 
that were there produced. Mr. Finney was in his glory as 
he stood in that pulpit, with every nook and corner of that 
building crowded ; and there, night after night, and Sabbath 
after Sabbath, he preached those wonderful sermons of which 
we have all heard. Long before the year was up there were 
many churches that would have been delighted to invite him 
to come to them. 

We had a prayer-meeting that commenced at six o'clock 
in the morning, and the church was full. I remember going 
one morning with my grandmother and carrying a lantern. 
The room was full ; and soon the tall, majestic form of Dr. 
Spring entered. There were a number of prominent men 
who were brought into the kingdom there — a number of our 
prominent and leading lawyers. 

About that time the old Chatham Street Theatre was for 
sale, and the Tappans and other friends purchased it and 
converted it into a church. Mr. Finney stayed there two or 
three years, till the old Broadway Theatre was bought 
and converted into the Broadway Tabernacle. It was from 
that centre that his influence went out over the city, and in 
many of the churches there were revivals. It was during 
that time that Mr. Leavitt took down the lectures on revivals 
that Mr. Finney delivered on Thursday evening; and those 
will go down to succeeding times as the best lectures on re- 
vivals that have ever appeared. 

He was the most remarkable preacher that I have ever 
listened to. He would hold those audiences in Prince street 
and in the Tabernacle for an hour and a half and two hours, 
and no one seemed to think that the time hung heavy. His 
clear and logical mind made everything so plain and con- 
vincing, that the most simple and the most refined were alike 
interested. His style of sermonizing was of the kind adapt- 
ed to interest. The people of New York had been listen 
2* 



34 Reminiscences of 

iiig to carefully-prepared essays ; and when Mr. Finney came 
and presented the truth without a manuscript, and in a style 
and manner plain, direct, and forcible, it attracted the atten- 
tion of people to an unusual degree. Why, the sermons that 
he preached in Prince street can never be forgotten by those 
that listened to them ! It seemed at times as though we 
were brought almost in view of the eternal world ! At other 
times the impressions were so deep that sobs were heard all 
over the house. I remember that at one time a young man 
who had been resisting for days, prostrated himself by the 
side of the stove with agony. Mr. Finney prayed for him 
in a most wonderful manner ; and for more than twenty 
years he has preached the Gospel in a powerful manner. 

And now the great point is, what shall be the influence of 
this great and good man, now that he has passed away ? 

I am persuaded that the Lecture to which I have referred, 
and the Autobiography which is being so extensively read, 
will do much to diffuse his spirit and perpetuate his influence. 



LETTERS. 



[The following extracts from letters which were read at the Meeting, 
relate chiefly to the earlier labors of Mr. Finney, and are, therefore, 
inserted here]. 

Auburn, N. Y., July 19, 1876. 

.... I knew brother Finney from June, 1S26, and have 
been with him in his meetings at different times and places, 
and corresponded with him until just previous to his death. 
His last letter was dated June 28, 1875, and when his death 
occurred August 16th following, I felt it like the loss of a 
father. In my long life I have had many friends to whom 
I have been much indebted, and felt glad to acknowledge it, 
but to him more than all others, because of the truth and 
Christ that was in him. 

Jis he has alluded to me so distinctly in his " Autobiog- 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 35 

raphy," you and others will pardon me for saying a word or 
two respecting it. His first impressions concerning me were 
more correct than the judgment of my friends ; he could see 
spiritually, and feel in his spirit that with all my efforts and 
desires, that my faith was so weak I couldn't strengthen 
him much in his work of salvation among sinners. Al- 
though, like Nicodemus in the presence of his enemies, I 
could refer to the law, yet even then my faith was so weak 
that there was no living power. 

In his allusions to me after he left Auburn, and the bap- 
tism of the Spirit, and especially of my after life, he speaks 
too favorably, more so than my life would warrant. But as 
to the baptism spoken of, Oh, may 1 never deny or grieve 
His Spirit away by covering it up through unbelief ! It was 
about four weeks after brother Finney had left and gone to 
Troy ; our meetings were interesting and crowded ; and one 
evening I couldn't get in my usual place, and pressed into 
another seat. Doctor Lansing, after opening the meeting, 
said he wished there might be many prayers, and " that no 
one would pray for anything but what he wanted, and then 
stop." I said, in my heart, " I want the Holy Spirit," and 
dropped directly on my knees and prayed, " Lord Jesus, 
breathe upon us, that we may receive the Holy Ghost." 
And it did seem as though He breathed, saying, " Receive 
ye the Holy Ghost." I sank down on the floor, and after 
meeting, two of the brethren helped me home. And ever 
since that day the reality and necessity of the Holy Ghost 
revealing Christ Jesus as the Saviour of sinners, and His 
word as having spirit and life in it, has been more or less 
abiding with me ; but I fail in being such a witness for 
Christ as that loving-hearted friend and brother would, by 
his memory and pen, indicate. 

I can only say, " By the grace of God I am what I am." 
And the friends of brother Finney I love, because their love 
is of the truth and for Christ's sake. 



36 Reminiscences of 

In your gathering July 28th may you have the presence 
of the Master, and the sweet enjoyment of the communion 
of saints, is the desire and prayer of 

Your Brother in Christ Jesus, 

Richard Steel. 

Bennington, Vt., July 19, 1876 

.... Forty years or so ago, I knew Mr. Finney well in 
New York. I have heard the great preachers of England 
and our own country, and at times I think Mr. Finney 
preached the u glorious Gospel " with more power than any 
man I ever heard. One sermon I well remember, from the 
text, " The wages of sin is death ;" and another on the 
Prodigal Son. Although he preached a full Gospel with a 
burning vehemence awful at times, yet there ran beneath it 
an undertone of compassion, and then when he met a single 
soul, he overwhelmed it by Divine love ; he allured it, he 
won it, by God's grace he saved it. 

Twenty-five years ago I saw him in England. There, too, 
he was about his Master's business, doing his best in saving 
souls. 

In Doctor Cheever's church, we got into a sad quarrel, 
and called in Mr. Finney as a peace-maker. He gathered a 
company of us into Dr. C.'s parlor to pray with us. One 
sister who spoke in meetings, he prayed for (by name), that 
she might have " the grace** of silence." He prayed that 

" Dr. might know his own mind," and so on. After a 

while he added, " But Thou knowest, O Lord, that we have 
had enough of this ! Amen." 

I once told him that Dr. wanted him to come and 

preach revival sermons. " Yes," said Mr. F., " he would 
ride, if I would row the boat !" He acted so naturally, he 
could say or do what would have been, or seemed to be, im 
proper in any other man ; but his heart was pure and inno- 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 37 

cent, overflowing with cheerfulness and love for his Divine 
Saviour and the souls of men. As now I have gotten well 
into years, I can say with Schiller, — 

" Honor the kind one, who with gentler play, 
To lofty duties lured my listening youth." 

Oberlin has heretofore done a glorious work ; long may 
she continue to do it ! 

Yours, truly, 

Seth B. Hunt, 



Allegheny, Pa., June 16, 1876. 
.... Shortly after the opening of the Chatham Street 
Theatre in N. Y. for religious services, it was my privilege 
(while then a boy) to attend Mr. Finney's ministry. It was 
in 1833, I think, that Mr. Finney had become much enfee- 
bled in consequence of his continuous and arduous labors. 
His friends becoming alarmed lest he should become perma- 
nently incapacitated for the ministry, an assistant was pro- 
cured of Mr. F.'s choice, and during a revival of wonderful 
power, Mr. F. was urged to go on a voyage to the Mediter- 
ranean, which he consented finally to do. To leave, under 
such circumstances, cost him a great sacrifice. He had 
scarcely reached the Island of Malta, when the spirit of 
envy and discord crept into the church, the Holy Spirit was 
grieved, the revival ceased, the church had grievously back- 
sliden, and none inquired the way of life. A few faithful 
ones besought the Lord in prayer and kept the flock together 
as best they could. The minister then in charge (a good 
man) became discouraged, and the condition of the church 
was alarming. In the midst of this sad state of affairs Mr. 
F. returned. I shall never forget his expression when he 
came in and saw but the remnant of a congregation that 
crowded the church when he left. He turned a withering 
look upon the minister, and with this question, " Where is 



3S Reminiscences of 

the church I left in your charge ? " buried' his face in his 
hands and shed bitter tears. The scene was fearful. It was 
but a short time, however, before the scattered flock was 
gathered, the meetings were crowded, the church was re- 
vived, and the Holy Spirit blessed his labors in the salvation 
of souls. 

His high regard for the law of God manifested itself when 
I applied for admission to the church. When I mentioned 
my residence as in Brooklyn, Mr. Finney said he thought it 
a violation of the fourth commandment to cross the ferry on 
the Sabbath. Mr. Tappan, one of the Session, said, " It is 
lawful to do good on the Sabbath day." Mr. Finney replied, 
"It is not lawful to do evil that good may come." The affair 
was compromised by admitting me, but advising me to take a 
letter to a church in Brooklyn, throwing the responsibility 
where they thought it belonged. 

.... That Christians might see themselves as in a glass, 
he once asked this question : " When you take up your 
religious paper, what do you seek for first of all ? Is it the 
miscellaneous news of the paper, or do you first of all look 
for the revival news to learn what the Lord is doing to save 
souls ? " 

Forty-five years have passed since these incidents occurred, 
but with many others of like interest, they are as fresh to my 
mind as if they occurred but yesterday. 

Very truly yours, 

Edmund Watts. 



[The following letter from Dea. Edwin Lamson, formerly 
a leading and active member of the Park street church, 
Boston, was not finished. A hurried draft of the latter part 
was made on Saturday, which he intended to copy and com- 
plete. But on Sunday night, after an illness of only half an 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 39 

hour, he passed from earth to heaven very much as Mr. Fin- 
ney went before him. The letter, without his signature, was 
forwarded to Oberlin by his daughter in season to be read at 
the memorial meeting.] 

Boston, July 21, 1876. 

I am in receipt of a notice of a meeting to be held on the 
28th inst., in memory of Mr. Finney. I regret much that I 
can not see my way clear to be present on an occasion of so 
much interest. It was my good fortune to be brought into 
intimate relations with that distinguished man. He and his 
wife were guests in my family for a number of months, while 
carrying forward his labors in Boston during the winter of 

1856-57. 

Our testimony in regard to him is, that he was a man 
wholly consecrated and devoted to the Master and His work. 
With him everything was made subservient to this end. He 
was a living illustration of Phil. i. 21 : u For me to live is 
Christ." In the midst of bodily infirmities which he rarely 
allowed to hinder him in his work, he realized that his weak- 
ness was made strength. When, in the judgment of others, 
he should have rested, he would brace himself for his work; 
and few would suspect bodily infirmity, so boldly and 
earnestly would he enter upon every effort. 

He was a fearless champion of the truth. He saw the 
weak points in other men's faith and was eager to show such 
their error. While carrying on this work in Boston, the com- 
munity was much exercised oftentimes by the things which 
Theodore Parker would say and do. He tried to block the 
wheels and throw odium upon the work. Mr. Finney made 
personal calls at Mr. Parker's house, seeking a private 
interview, but though in the house, Mr. Parker declined 
receiving him. It was Mr. Finney's conviction that a brief 
conversation only would reveal the error in his theological 
theories. 



40 Reminiscenxes of 

The effect of Theodore Parker's harangues at Music Hall 
was highly pernicious. Many persons who were frequently 
at the Park street meetings and apparently near the Kingdom 
of Heaven, were directly and indirectly influenced by the 
utterances at Music Hall. It was astonishing to observe 
what a wide and mischievous influence came from that quar- 
ter. In fact, it was so noticeable that the remark was fre- 
quently made that many who were almost persuaded to be- 
come Christians were intimidated and kept back in con- 
sequence. Persons from all the evangelical denominations 
were so strongly of one mind that it was agreed by them to 
set apart a day for special prayer that God would either con- 
vert Theodore Parker to the truth, or in some way destroy 
his influence so that sinners would no more stumble by 
reason of his teachings. It was a day long to be remem- 
bered. 

Between thirty and forty brethren met in the upper vestry 
of Park street church, in the rear of the organ. Most of 
those present took part ; all were burdened. While on his 
knees, one brother is remembered to have said : *' I have it ! 
I have it! God hears our prayers." A minister from the 
Free-will Baptists, impatiently waiting his turn, cries out, 
" Brethren, let me pray. My heart is bursting; " and so it 
went on till late in the afternoon. The feeling of assurance 
was universal and very remarkable. All felt that Divine 
Providence would surely interpose. 

From that hour the scene changed. Mr. Parker asked 
leave of absence, and in less than a month he left for Europe 
in search of health, but never returned. He died at 
Florence. 

In a conversation on one occasion we were alluding to the 
hard features of a campaign in Boston, where is such a mix- 
ture of error and truth, where is the aristocracy of wealth 
and of letters, pride of intellect and pride of social position, 
and a widespread tendency to ignore man's lost estate and 



Early Evangelistic Labors. 41 

the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. " Oh," 
said he, " I knew Boston well." " Why," I asked, " did you 
enter upon the work now? " He replied, " Because / did 
not want to." 

He was not a man who could justify in himself any other 
spirit than that of supreme love to God and entire conse- 
cration to His service. He has been misunderstood when 
spoken of as stern and severe. Still he would not parley 
with evil in any form. Let his recent Memoir speak a word 
for him. Where will another case be found of kinder, gentler 
dealing with opponents ? When he was wrongly judged and 
opposed, how remarkable his bearing as a disciple of Jesus ! 



II. 

REMINISCENCES 

CF 

ASSOCIATES AXD PUPILS TS OBERLIX. 



MR. FINNEY A5 PREACHER AND TEACHER. 

[BY REV. LEONARD 5. PAKKEB,* :? ASHBUBHEQUV, MASS.] 

I first saw and heard Mr. Finney when a young student 
in the Boston Latin School. He had been invited to preach 
in that city by Dr. Lyman Beecher and others. I count it 
one 01 the choicest privileges of my life at that period, that 
I heard for months those two grand preachers, so unlike, 
and yet so great. Mr. Finney's method of sermonizing was 
so different from anything I had ever heard from the pulpit, 
that I was exceedingly struck and impressed by it. Later, 
is for four years under his influence as a teacher of the- 
ology and a preacher. In my early ministry he aided me 
for several weeks in a powerful revival of religion. Since 
then, I have met him from time to time, as a pupil meets his 
teacher, down to the last years of his life. This record is 
my warrant for what I now have to say. 

Mr. Finney's preaching was of a stirring revival character. 
His discourses were not of the class sometimes praised of 
late, fifteen minutes in length, hurried through with the speed 
of the lightning-express train ; but each of them one mighty 

*Mr. Parker being unable to attend the meeting, by request sent 
the following communication . 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 43 

plea as for the life of the souls before him — one majestic un- 
folding of a vital truth of Scripture. 

First of all, his aim was to bring the church into a tender, 
prayerful, working state. His method of doing this was very- 
searching and thorough. Then he proceeded to address the 
unrenewed. He preached the law and the Gospel. He 
reasoned with men. He sought " to commend himself to 
every man's conscience in the sight of God." Hence his re- 
markable success among educated, thinking men. No 
preacher our country has produced has led back to God so 
many lawyers, judges, and professional men generally, as Mr. 
Finney. He once said he had more hope of success with 
such men than with any other class, if he could gain their 
attention to the truth. 

But there was more than the simple presentation of the 
themes of the Gospel. He had an intense emotional nature. 
When he had unfolded his subject in the clearest manner, 
he would throw himself, body and spirit, into the most im- 
passioned personal appeals, carrying his hearers almost irre- 
sistibly with him. We could almost see the yawning abyss, 
the crucified One, the glories of heaven. 

In the inquiry- room, he was peculiarly at home. His 
manner there was very gentle and winning. He sought to 
raise no sweeping emotions. He practiced no pious arts. 
He abhorred " clap-trap " there and everywhere. He would 
open before those present afresh, in the clearest light possi- 
ble, the conditions of salvation, removing difficulties, and 
then press all to an immediate submission to Christ. He 
had the profoundest faith in God's truth, and in that only, 
in guiding men to the Saviour 

The years immediately preceding and following the found- 
ing of the Institution at Oberlin, form a golden period in 
the religious history of the Eastern States. And the savor 
of that season has never departed. The leaven has worked, 
is working now. The distant, indirect methods of present- 



44 Reminiscences of 

ing the truth, and of Christian work, have given place to a 
bolder, more personal style of address. We see and feel this 
in Sabbath-school conventions, and in the meetings and labors 
of the members of Young Men's Christian Associations. Often 
at such meetings have I been carried back to the very scenes 
and methods in Oberlin and elsewhere, under the preaching 
of Mr. Finney. A few years since, I attended a large Chris- 
tian convention in one of our inland cities at the East. 
Among the topics that were most earnestly discussed was 
that of entire consecration to the Lord Jesus. All the 
evangelical denominations, all schools in theology were 
represented; and all the speakers were agreed — not a dis- 
cordant note was heard. One old gentleman, an early friend 
of Oberlin, sprang to his feet, exclaiming, " Why, that was 
the very doctrine Mr. Finney preached in Oberlin years ago ! 
It was thought a hard saying; but now all the brethren 
speak the same language. I rejoice to see this day." The 
aged disciple was right. The Christian world had moved. 
And no small part of the human force concerned in this 
great, though unconscious, progress, can be traced to the 
influence of Mr. Finney. 

The work in our denomination received a decided impulse 
from the meeting of the National Council, in Oberlin, in 
187 1. The delegates from the East went home to report 
to their respective bodies : " Such a welcome we received ! 
Such a godly assemblage we never met with ! And such 
words of exhortation and prayer from that man of God, Mr. 
Finney ! We shall never forget them." 

The early community of Oberlin was one peculiarly fitted 
to receive the impress of Mr. Finney's labors. The men 
and women came here to do a Christian work. They were 
ready to follow a true shepherd. Mr. Finney taught them 
how to work for Christ. They nobly cooperated with him 
here; or leaving, as some of them did, they sought to create 
new Oberlins wherever they went. They were taught to 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 45 

look for a refreshing from the Spirit of God every year. 
As new classes of students came in, they were to take them 
to God in earnest prayer, and to labor to win them to Christ. 
Thus was inaugurated the series of revivals at Oberlin that 
have brought thousands into the Christian fold, and which 
have been followed, much as effect follows cause, by similar 
refreshings in our best Western Institution. 

Passing now to speak of Mr. Finney's influence on the 
students in theology at that early day, I recall with special 
interest the fraternal element in it. I say advisedly f rater* 
nal, rather than paternal. No man was more averse than he 
to any airs of assumption. We could not refrain from smil- 
ing at the horror — almost — with which he recoiled from a 
doctorate of divinity ! He was simply a brother among 
brothers, if an elder one. Coming as I did from the state- 
lier ways of New England, it was some time before I could 
make it seem natural to address him simply as " Brother 
Finney." Thus by example, as well as precept, he taught 
us the great truth that we were brethren. 

With all this freedom of intercourse, I do not remember any 
abuse of it on the part of his pupils, any impertinence of 
speech or manner. There was so much of true dignity in 
him, that he must be a very boorish or reckless person who 
could treat him otherwise than with the utmost respect. I 
was particularly struck with some manifestations of this 
spirit of gentle, patient fraternity. Among the earlier stu- 
dents in theology were several who had enjoyed few advan- 
tages of education. At that revival period, moved as they 
felt by the Spirit of God, to prepare themselves for preach- 
ing the Gospel, they had come to Oberlin as the fittest place 
for that purpose. Of course, these would sometimes lay 
themselves open to sharp criticism. Mr. Finney could do 
this effectively, if it were called for ; but I do not recollect 
one instance in which he allowed himself to do it towards 
these less-endowed brethren. He uniformly treated them 



46 Reminiscences of 

with kind and tender consideration, carrying the classes with 
him. 

Our instructor in theology inculcated thorough and inde- 
pendent investigation, and invited the utmost freedom in 
discussion. When I joined the Seminary, the only existing 
class was that which had studied at Lane, and was now on 
its last year. Till a new one could be formed, I met with 
this class. There was a good deal of talent among these 
students, and their minds had been sharpened by anti-sla- 
very debates. They were not to be put off by mere asser- 
tions, or quotations of human authorities. With Luther be- 
fore the Diet of Worms, they asked for the cogent reasons, 
and the warrant of Scripture. This spirit was fostered by 
our teacher, who himself led the way. 

Perhaps on no personal quality did Mr. Finney insist more 
strenuously than that of unselfishness. He could not fail to 
know the great powers he possessed, the wide influence he 
had gained, the remarkable fruits of his labors. Yet, through 
all his teachings and prayers, the spirit of a little child shone ; 
self was left out. In his references to the revivals under his 
preaching, God was magnified ; it was His truth, His Spirit, 
His glory ; coming from the great city, with all its refine- 
ments, which he exquisitely appreciated to the small quar- 
ters, the hard fare, the rains and mud of early Oberlin, he 
never alluded to the contrast, or spoke of the sacrifice he had 
made. He referred, with pain, to the jealousies he had wit- 
nessed among ministers, and solemnly charged us never to 
indulge this spirit. Once he exclaimed : " Why, if any 
brother can preach better than you can, you should be will- 
ing to have him stand on your shoulders and proclaim the 
Saviour's love to dying sinners ! " With great emphasis he 
taught us to go w r here the Lord called us, whether the posi- 
tion was high or low, whether the field was attractive or oth- 
erwise. The Master's honor and pleasure, the salvation of 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 47 

souls, we were to have at heart, not money, ease, or any pri- 
vate end. 

Fruit came from this planting. It appeared in the West 
Indian and African missions. In later years I met a veteran 
Home Missionary agent of Michigan, who frankly said : " I 
was wholly prejudiced against Oberlin at the first ; but when 
I found the young men trained there willing to go where no 
others would go, endure hardships without a murmur, live 
on the smallest salaries, I said ' that institution must be of 
God/ and I have loved it ever since." 

I hardly need say that Mr. Finney enjoined it on us to 
preach the truth with all boldness, sparing no sin, after the 
manner of prophets and apostles. We knew his revival la- 
bors brought no small reproach upon him. We saw a denser 
cloud settle around him from his connection with Oberlin. 
But we never heard a word, or saw an act, that showed the 
least flinching. The earlier students who went forth from 
this Seminary had need of this thorough training. Few were 
the ministers, or lay Christians, who gave them a hearty 
" God-speed." They had to earn by the hardest the right 
to be recognized as " true yoke-fellows." But we should 
have been ashamed of ourselves, we should have done vio- 
lence to our most sacred feelings and memories, had we bent 
before the storm, and " sold our birthright for a mess of pot- 
tage." 

On the religious life of the students, the influence of Mr. 
Finney was very strong and abiding. Because we were all 
professors of religion, of some years' standing, and were pre- 
paring for the ministry, he did not take it for granted that 
all was well ; that we needed nothing more. He applied to 
us the same tests as to other disciples. He searched our 
hearts with the truth of God. He taught us that our first 
work in every sense was with our own hearts ; that we should 
look for the truest and largest success in the line of entire 



4 8 



Reminiscences of 



consecration to the Redeemer, of living and growing com- 
munion with Him. And all his counsels were enforced by 
the mighty power of his own example. We knew and felt 
that he practiced what he taught. Especially was this man- 
ifest after the precious baptism of the Spirit he received in 
the early years of his work in Oberlin, whose fruits appeared 
in all his subsequent teachings and life. With the vigor and 
power of former years, was mingled a tenderness, a sweet- 
ness, that could come only from a wonderful revelation of 
the Cross by the Holy Spirit. His lectures were not bare 
skeletons of truth, but had infused into them the force and 
beauty of real life, were clothed with the creations of a heart 
that intensely sympathized with Christ. When he presented 
the subject of the Atonement, for example, so vividly was the 
great love of the Godhead made to appear to our minds that 
we found ourselves in tears, at times, with our pencils in our 
motionless hands ! While he peculiarly delighted in clear, 
fresh, and original thought, he would have us preach to men, 
as God's truth, nothing which had not been bathed in our 
own rich and loving experience. We esteemed and honored 
him as a profound thinker, a most able reasoner, a clear and 
apt teacher ; yet I am sure we all felt that his crowning ex- 
cellence was his living piety. 

One scene in the old chapel no surviving member of my 
class can have forgotten. The storm of suspicion and de- 
traction — carrying with it so many of his old friends, and 
converts even — w r as at its height ; and our class were soon 
to go out and bear its fury. We knelt as usual, Mr. Finney 
leading in prayer. At first there was nothing uncommon in 
his manner and w T ords, but soon the great deep of his heart 
w r as broken up, and he poured out a , mighty stream of sup- 
plication — for us, for his former co-laborers, for those whom 
he had won to Christ, for the ministry, for the Church bought 
with Jesus' blood, for a lost world. Sometimes he seemed 
to be leading us, again he seemed to be alone with God, 



I 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 49 

We thought of Jacob wrestling with the angel at Peniel ; of 
Moses, seeking to be blotted out of God's Book ; of Paul, 
asking to be accursed from Christ, for Israel ; of Luther, 
pleading with God the night before the Great Diet. We re- 
mained on our knees a whole hour, then rose and went si- 
lently to our rooms. There was the secret of the power of 
this man of God, who communed with the Hearer of prayer 
almost face to face ! 

As I write these words of remembrance, hundreds of 
miles away from the place of my theological training, from 
the spot where the mortal part of my revered teacher is 
reposing, awaiting the resurrection of the just, tears will 
come, unbidden, into my eyes — not so much of grief that his 
work is done, and that I shall " see his face no more," as a 
tribute of nature to uncommon worth. I thank God for all 
he was to me and to many — and for the hope of a meeting 
beyond the veil ! There has been a reunion there already — 
there will be a greater one hereafter. 

May the mantle of that dear servant of the Lord Jesus 
rest on the Institution with which so much of his life was 
identified, on the living ministry, and on the whole Church 
of Christ ! 

REMARKS OF REV. GEORGE CLARK, OF OBERLIN. 

It is about forty years since I first met Mr. Finney at the 
house of Dr. Taylor, in New Haven. I was struck at that 
time with his appearance, and with the manner in which he 
discussed great theological questions. 

The next time I met him was here in Oberlin, where I 
had the privilege, for a time, of living with him under the 
same roof, eating with him at the same table, and daily re- 
ceiving instruction from him in the theological classes. 

A theme was assigned to each one, on which, after due 
preparation, he must discourse, and then "be picked." It 
set us all to thinking. The theme that at one time was given 



50 Reminiscences of 

to me was Imputation, a doctrine which was then much dis- 
cussed ; and I well remember how I stood for three days and 
was questioned. Such scenes were interesting to me, and 
of the greatest value. Besides my honored parents, there is 
no person, I believe, to whom I owe so much as to Brother 
Finney. 

He had a psychological mind, and for the power of analy- 
sis, I doubt if he had his equal. 

I remember sitting once in this house, and listening to 
him with Seth N. Gates, and at the close of the sermon he 
turned to me and said, " I never heard such a masterly power 
of analysis." He was one of the most generous-minded men 
I ever knew — generous to those that made mistakes, generous 
to children. My little girl would get hold of his hand and 
walk clear home with him. My wife went to him at one 
time and told him that Mr. Spencer, a missionary among the 
Ojibway Indians, had no overcoat, and he sent him the best 
overcoat he had, one that had doubtless cost him fifty dol- 
lars. 

He had no tinge of asceticism about him, not a single 
particle. He believed that self-denial was a condition of 
discipleship, but he had no asceticism. 

There was never a man that trained himself more like an 
athlete for his work, in eating, drinking, and sleeping. How 
many miles I have walked with him in hunting ! How often 
we knelt beneath those tall old oaks in prayer ! In all my 
intercourse with him, I never knew any bitterness of spirit 
in him. 

After he had written against Freemasonry, he showed me 
letters containing threats of killing him, and said, " I guess 
I am worth more to kill than for anything else." 

Not long before his death, Prof. N called at his house 

on his return from the cemetery. " When I am dead," he 
said to him, " d<t not go to the grave-yard to find me. I shall 
be where I shall be more alive than you are." 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 51 

remarks of rev. e. b. sherwood, of st. joseph, mo. 

My acquaintance with Brother Finney began in June, 
1835, about the time of the organization of the first theo- 
logical class in this place. My impressions of him were 
derived more especially from his power in prayer. I thought 
him a great preacher, and as a man of superior logical pow- 
ers ; but I was chiefly impressed by him as a man who had 
power with God, and who had power with men because he 
had power with God. At the close of the last term of the 
year 1836, he came into the class-room, and with his great 
eyes looked over the class, and before he got around, his 
eyes were swimming with tears. After looking at us in this 
way a few moments, he said, " Brethren, let us pray ;" and 
he prayed something like this : " O Lord, here is a class of 
young men who are going forth to preach the everlasting 
Gospel, and Thou knowest that their words will be like the 
repetition of parrots, unless Thou shalt fill them with the 
Holy Ghost." He poured out his soul thus for nearly half 
an hour, pleading with God that He would not let us go 
forth in our own strength, until it seemed that the whole place 
was filled with the presence of God. There was no disposi- 
tion on the part of any of the class to rise from their knees, 
and the whole hour was spent in prayer to God. That, 
brethren, was the most profitable lesson that I ever learned, 
and the most profitable hour that I ever spent. We came 
nearer to God, we got a more exalted idea of the work of the 
ministry ; and it was from that scene that I obtained my 
highest idea of President Finney. All through my acquaint- 
ance with him, it was a mystery to me where he got his mighty 
power. It seemed to be always gushing up, always full. That 
mystery was solved when I read his " Autobiography. " When 
he was converted he was brought into the full liberty of the 
Gospel. It was God in him that made him so great a bless- 
ing to the world. 



52 Reminiscences of 

remarks of rev. c. c. foote, of detroit. 

I apprehend that we have not a hundredth part of Mr. 
Finney's wondrous life in his wondrous book. To me it 
is so blessed, that if I had a thousand dollars I would put 
it into this book. I have a number of them circulating 
among my friends ; and when they come back, the expres- 
sion is, "Wonderful! wonderful !" 

Mr. Finney was a mighty reformer. I was present in 
Hartford when he broke the thunderbolt on slavery ; and 
you all know that his voice was as pronounced against that 
crime of the present age — Freemasonry. 

I saw and heard him the first time when he was engaged 
in that glorious revival in Rochester, which has been already 
described. I, too, heard that sermon from the text, " The 
wages of sin is death;" and for two hours it rained hail- 
stones, " every one about the weight of a talent." 

When I came to Oberlin, I could not endure his eyes ; 
but when I became acquainted with him, I liked nothing 
better. I once had what seemed to me the great trial of 
preaching in his presence ; but when he had prayed for me, 
I could have preached anywhere. 

I never saw a man with such wonderful descriptive pow- 
ers. Many years ago, on a commencement occasion, I was 
sitting in the big tent beside a woman, now present in the 
audience, who was holding a babe in her arms. While Mr. 
Finney was describing the scene in which Solomon showed 
his wisdom, by commanding the living child to be divided 
with a sword ; so graphic was his portrayal of it, that the 
woman by whom I sat, clasped her babe to her bosom with 
a terrified look, and seemed much relieved when she found 
that her child was not in any real danger. 

Mr. Finney was tremendously severe. He has put the 
lance through me, through and through. But how often 
have I seen him in the pulpit so overcome with emotion, 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 53 

that he would turn around and say, " I can not preach. 
Brother, will you not pray ?" 



REMARKS OF REV. JOSEPH ADAMS. 

My acquaintance with Mr. Finney began in the winter of 
1849 and 1850. He was laboring as a revivalist in the old 
Tabernacle, Moorflelds, London. This building, capable of 
holding two or three thousand persons, was built expressly 
for George Whitefield. Though but a youth, I was associated 
with an infidel club. I was full of my new notions, and, 
like my companions, thought we had found the Christian 
system to be a stupendous sham. While advocating my 
opinions, and pointing out the apparent contradictions of 
the Bible to two simple-minded wood-turners, I was invited 
to go and hear at the Tabernacle a " Professor Finney from 
America." With the most self-complacent feelings I con- 
sented, and went. He sat in the pulpit with a large cloak 
about him, and appeared to take but little notice of what 
was passing during the preliminary service conducted by 
another. When he arose, he threw aside his cloak in a 
careless manner, and looked around upon the vast audience 
with an eye which constrained attention. There was some- 
thing in his manner, arguments, earnestness, and tears (for 
he wept over sinners) # which arrested my attention, and com- 
pelled me to think that there must be something in religion 
after all. I came again, and kept coming till my infidelity 
vanished, and my soul was pierced through with the arrows 
of conviction. With a strong arm he held me at Sinai, till 
its thunders reverberated through my soul, and I cried out, 
"O wretched man that I am !" 

What other man could paint the terrors of the law like 
him; or who, when the fallow ground was broken up, could 
drop with gentler hand the precious seed of Christ ? s forgiv- 
ing love ! 



54 Reminiscences of 

In mighty London it must be something very extraordinary 
to create even a ripple of excitement ; but this man, by the 
aid of the Spirit, produced a deep and widespread impres- 
sion. His preaching drew immense crowds At times 

his preaching was simply awful. The shot of truth fell like 
hail. On one occasion when he was preaching from the 
words, " How can ye believe which receive honor one of 
another," it seemed as though the people would rise up 
en masse and entreat him to stop, for they could not sit still. 
The effect was like that which must have been produced on 
another occasion which he once told me of. By excessive 
labors in the Broadway Tabernacle, New York, he had so 
exhausted his strength as to render rest imperatively neces- 
sary. For that purpose he went to some quiet village in the 
country. But like his Master, he " could not be hid." Soon 
after his arrival the pastor of a small church urged him to 
preach. He positively declined; but on learning, a little 
time after, that the pastor was paid a very small salary, and 
half of that was raised by a Ladies' Sewing Society, while 
there were men in the church abundantly able to pay the 
whole without feeling it, he said, " My indignation was 
stirred, and weak as I was, I felt I must preach. I did so, 
and took for my text, ■ Give an account of thy stewardship.' 
Towards the close of the sermon I applied my remarks to 
the officers of that church, and told them what I had heard, 
and I lashed them as with a whip of scorpions. While lay- 
ing on the whip, the Senior Deacon rose up, and with tears 
streaming down his face, cried out, ' Mr. Finney ! Mr, Fin- 
ney ! please don't say more. I'll pay the whole of it ! ' ' 

Similar was the effect of his preaching in London. The 
scene which is described in his Autobiography (pp. 405—6-7), 
I was eye-witness to. Thousands were converted as the 
result of his labors. 

In 1852 I came to this country to pursue a course of study, 
and was welcomed to his home in Oberlin. His home to me 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 55 

was a paradise. His childlike simplicity, freedom from all 
ostentation and assumption, were to me a marvel. I shall 
never forget the impression made on my mind, when shortly 
after my arrival in Oberlin I was returning from recitation 
and saw Mr. Finney and Prof. Morgan sitting on the side- 
walk with their limbs hanging in the ditch, engaged in such 
earnest conversation as to be oblivious to their position. 
Those who had been accustomed to Western life might not 
have noticed it, but I had been taught to look upon clergy- 
men as a superior race of dignified beings, and to see two 
such men acting so like school-boys was more than I could 
understand. 

Mr. Finney's faith and power in prayer were a prominent 
characteristic. At the family altar he seemed to know in- 
stinctively the wants of every member of the family. In a 
few concise, comprehensive phrases the petition was laid be- 
fore the Throne and the answer came right away. 

A remarkable instance of answer to his prayer occurred 
in the summer of 1853. It will, doubtless, be remembered 
by some that hot, dry weather had prevailed for a long 
period, till the pastures were scorched and the hay-crop 
seemed likely to be a total failure. Every one seemed to feel 
that if this drouth continued a few days more, the cattle must 
die, and the harvest perish. On Sunday morning we had 
gathered in this church, as usual. Not one of that large com- 
pany appeared to anticipate rain that day, for scarce a cloud 
was to be seen. The burden of Mr. Finney's prayer that 
morning was for rain, and though twenty-three years have 
passed since then, that prayer is as fresh in my memory as if 
I had only heard it yesterday. He told the Lord our po- 
sition, and among other things said : " We do not presume 
to dictate to Thee what is best for us, yet Thou dost invite 
us to come to Thee as children to a father, and tell Thee all 
our wants. We want rain ! Our pastures are dry. The 
cattle are lowing, and wandering about in search of water. 



56 Reminiscences of 

Even the little squirrels in the woods are suffering for want 
of it. Unless Thou givest us rain our cattle must die, for 
we shall have no hay for them in winter ; and our harvest 
will come to nought. O Lord, send us rain! and send it 
now ! Although to us there is no sign of it, it is an easy 
thing for Thee to do. Send it now, Lord, for Christ's sake ! " 
Every heart said * Amen." 

The service proceeded, but by the time he got half through 
his sermon the rain came down in such torrents that we 
could scarcely hear him preach. He "stopped and said, 
" We'll praise God for this rain," and gave out the hymn, — 

" When all Thy mercies, O my God, 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 
In wonder, love, and praise." 

We sang ; at least all hearts did, but many could not for 
weeping. 

Only one other such scene do I remember in Oberlin, and 
that, I think, occurred the same year on a Sunday afternoon, 
when, after preaching, he invited all who were willing to 
consecrate themselves to Jesus to occupy the pews in the 
body of the church. They were soon cleared, and the choir, 
under the leadership of Prof. Allen, sang " Come to Jesus." 
It was a second Pentecost. From all parts of the house, but 
especially the gallery, the young people poured in till scarce 
a seat was left unoccupied. The manifested presence and 
glory of God were almost greater than I could bear. Oh, for 
a repetition of such scenes ! 



REMARKS OF PROF. JOHN MORGAN, D.D., OF OBERLIN. 

I have been so closely associated with Mr. Finney for 

many years, that my mind is fraught with recollections of 

him ; yet I can not tell in detail the things that have inter- 

sted me in a way that would interest others as they have 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 57 

myself. I did not know him personally when he was en- 
gaged in the great western revivals ; but some of my intimate 
friends were with him, and I used to hear a great deal about 
those revivals. I remember that I was shocked with the 
rapidity with which converts were admitted to the churches, 
and I wrote to a friend asking him if many were not de- 
ceived. He replied — No ; that Mr. Finney preached with 
such intelligence and power that those who were converted 
knew that they were Christians. He did not mean that none 
were deceived, but that the large majority were genuine con- 
verts. This was said particularly of the work in Utica, where 
it was very powerful. 

I first heard him preach in the Brick church, when Dr. 
Spring was absent. Not long after that, he began his 
preaching in Vandewater street. I think Anson G. Phelps 
was his chief supporter. I was profoundly interested in his 
preaching, and regarded it as far superior to that of any 
other preacher in the city. The high intellectual cast of his 
preaching particularly struck me ; and as I became better 
acquainted with him, I was more struck with the fact that his 
mind was of a high order. 

I think that those who were most intimately acquainted 
with Mr. Finney have come to the conclusion that he was a 
man who combined, in a remarkable degree, the intuitive 
and the logical powers. He had a wonderful intuitive power, 
and when he had arrived at his bold premises by intuition, 
whether taken from reason and the works of God, or from 
the Word of God, he would reason from them with wonder- 
ful power. I came, therefore, to the conclusion that although 
Mr. Finney was not a learned man, he had been such a 
student, such a thinker, had so profoundly reflected, that he 
was really one of the deepest theologians that I had any 
knowledge of; and I have been compelled to compare him 
with President Edwards, as at least his equal ; and President 
Edwards is confessedly one of the first theologians that our 



58 Reminiscences of 

country has ever produced. In fifty years, if it be not 
now, I think that Mr. Finney's equality with him will be 
admitted. 

I have therefore regarded him as admirably adapted to be 
an instructor in theology, though his mind went with such a 
rush, that perhaps at times he failed in patience with the 
young men. He was careful that his pupils should not 
accept his teachings without seeing for themselves that it 
was the truth, Sometimes the young men would swarm 
around him like bees, discussing some point with him ; and 
then he would take up the subject and think it over anew, 
and would prepare a series of lectures remarkable for clear- 
ness and grasp of thought. Sometimes I have been aston- 
ished at the richness and depth which would characterize 
these lectures. 

But I think that all of us felt that his spiritual power was 
that in which he most excelled. The influence which he 
exerted on souls was sometimes very strong, f remember 
times when he thought religion was declining in Oberlin, 
for his standard was so high that he wanted to have things at 
a very 7 high pitch in order to satisfy him at all. I remember 
how he used to come and talk the matter over with us, and I 
used to quake as his mighty eye would fix itself upon me. I 
believe that he had very much the same kind of influence 
over whole congregations ; but I felt it especially when he 
addressed me personally. There was in him, in prayer, the 
most remarkable power that I have ever seen in any human 
being. A # distinguished friend once said to me as he rose up 
from his knees after Mr. Finney had led in prayer, " It seems 
to me that I have never prayed./ 1 Indeed, I used to feel 
that his praying was far more powerful than his preaching. 
When he became old he could not maintain the tenor of 
thought with that mighty energy with which he could when 
he was younger; but his praying was always mighty. There 
was never any lack of straightforward power. I used to re- 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 59 

gard it as the greatest feast, when I came to church, to hear 
him pray. I do not think that, in his earlier years, he had 
this power in prayer in the same degree as he had later 011 in 
life. In the latter part of his life, I thought his praying was 
better than his preaching — I mean better intellectually. 

I have often heard people talk about the sternness of Mr. 
Finney. I know that when he preached to sinners and to 
backsliders he was stern. But while he was thus stern, I do 
not belieye we had a man among us who had more tender 
sensibilities. I have observed him in his family circle, and 
I do not believe there could be found anywhere a lovelier 
man ; and it was very natural that all around him should 
love him very tenderly. I remember when his children were 
little ones how they loved their father. 

It was remarkable that in whatever house he entered he 
had a fascinating power over the little ones. They would 
come to him, and he could take them in his arms, and they 
would feel at home there. And so it was when he performed 
the rite of infant baptism. He could take almost any child 
that was brought. The child seemed to be charmed into 
confidence with him. And then when he prayed, and put 
the water of consecration on the little one's brow, he did it 
in a way that I do not believe was ever equaled. This was 
in consequence of the outflow of his soul toward the little 
ones. And so it was also at funerals. He used to enter so 
tenderly and beautifully into the sympathies of the family, 
winding his fine mind into all their interests. 



REMARKS OF REV. HENRY COWLES, D.D., OF OBERLIN. 

I find myself at a loss what to select from the many things 
which I might say of Mr. Finney. I would mention the 
many-sidedness of his character. This has been particularly 



60 Reminiscences of 

developed in his relations to me within the last thirteen or 
fourteen years. 

I feel his loss more than any words can express. I have 
been in the habit occasionally, when I found anything which 
especially interested me, of reading it to him, partly to ob- 
tain suggestions. 

I can not tell you how I have been affected at times when 
I have seen him weep naturally and readily. I recollect one 
case which will throw light upon the tenderness of his spirit. 
What I was reading brought to light the great love of God 
toward men. He burst into tears and said, " And yet, all 
He can do He can not persuade sinners that He loves them ! " 

One of the things which has impressed me very much with 
regard to his character, passed his lips half an hour, perhaps, 
before his death, as given me by his wife. He said to her, 
"You know, my dear, I have been inquiring a long time 
what the Lord would have me do. I have seemed to be 
waiting, waiting, waiting." His wife replied to him, that 
his active service was long since past, and that this waiting 
was doubtless the Lord's will concerning him. To which he 
ultimately replied: "Well, I have not apostatized, have I?" 
It was "his modest, perhaps half-playful, way of putting it. 
He doubtless meant what the great apostle expressed, " I 
have kept the faith." 

I might say a great deal with regard to my earlier ac- 
quaintance with him. Many of you know that I have re- 
ported his sermons, more than a hundred of them, which I 
read to him. 

One of the first sermons I heard him preach impressed me 
with its wonderful power upon the conscience, and from that 
time onward I had the same impression continually renewed. 
He had the power of setting truth before the mind so that 
it should stick. He had a wonderful power in the conclusion 
of his sermons of gathering up points adapted to make 



Associates and Pupils in Oberlin. 6i 

strong, vivid impressions. The history of such men im- 
presses me often with the resources of God to make great 
men. And one lesson we may learn is, one of confidence, 
that God will raise up other great men. None of us need 
fear that God's resources are short as compared with emer- 
gencies that will arise. 



III. 

CRITICAL ESTIMATES 

OF 

MR. FOTErS CHARACTER AND WORK. 



THE COMMUNICABLE SECRETS OF Mr. FINNEY'S POWER. 

[BY ARTHUR TAfPAN PIERSON.] 

[Note. — The following is a substantial reproduction of an address 
at the Memorial Meeting, which was not written until since its de- 
livery. — A. T. P.] 

As we study the life of any man of mark, we see some 
traits which stand out boldly, like mountains in a landscape, 
and give individuality, idiosyncrasy — sometimes idiosyn- 
craziness. They distinguish the man from all others, and 
remind us of the famous couplet of Byron's : 

" Nature formed but one such man, 
And broke the die, in moulding Sheridan." 

If these traits were all, biography could serve us but little ; 
in our proneness to shirk heroic effort, we should say of such 
men, c they are inimitable,' and rest content with our low 
level of life. 

No doubt, some secrets of Mr. Finney's success are incom- 
municable, such as his insight into human nature, his powers 
of analysis and argument, physical and nervous energy, vivid 
imagination, rapidity of thought and speech, and athletic 
vigor in antagonism. But are we to stand afar off, and view 
his devotion to God and to souls, with an awe that dismisses 
all thought of imitation or emulation ? If so, that life has 
(62) 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 63 

left its print upon the living leaves of history, largely in vain. 
Upon Life's Field of the Cloth of Gold, God has flung a 
knightly gauntlet, challenging us all to a true Christian 
chivalry ! Mr. Finney shows us, on a grand scale, what one 
life may be and do; and were he here, he would say, with 
Paul, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." 

In speaking of the communicable secrets of his power, 
we begin and end with the ultimate source of all power, 
namely, Character. As a man, Mr. Finney was specially 
marked by Candor, Courage, Conscientiousness, and Co/ise- 
cration. 

Candor is no common virtue. Few men are honest with 
themselves ; they evade and avoid convictions which would 
compel them to condemn their past course and reform their 
present practices. He was habitually honest with himself, 
with God, and with men. His was a candid mind that re- 
joices in the truth, even when it rebukes, and that must deal 
honestly, whether in searching self, praying to God, or speak- 
ing to men. His frankness surprised and sometimes offended ; 
but a second sober thought led men to feel that he who told 
them the plain truth was the man to go to, when they sought 
salvation or sanctification. 

His Courage was not of that physical type which is often 
only the consciousness and confidence of brute-force ; but it 
was moral intrepidity. It made him bold to face and fight 
wrong doctrine or bad practice; decisive and incisive in 
dealing with souls ; regardless of conventional restraints ; 
daring in his blows at popular idols ; brave in the use of any 
means which he believed right and effective. Such courage 
came from that conscious fellowship with God, which made 
Luther bold as a lion before the Diet of Worms, gave Knox 
his motto, " One with God is a majority," and led Paul to 
say, "If God be for us, who can be against us ! " 

His Conscientiousness was seen in instant and constant 
obedience to every conviction of duty, whether it came 



64 Critical Estimates of 

through his moral sense, the Written Word, or the living 
spirit. To know the right was to pursue it ; to perceive the 
truth was to receive it ; to see God's will was to submit to 
it, in serving or in suffering. He proved that " God hath 
given " the Holy Ghost " to them that obey Him " (Acts v. 
32); for, while others passively waited for the Spirit to im- 
bue and endue them, he learned that each new act of obe- 
dience brought a new baptism. 

His Consecration was the laying of himself as a whole offer- 
ing on God's altar. Emptying himself of selfish ambition, 
he held up the emptied vessel to be filled with the grace of 
God. And the " tabernacle " which he thus " sanctified to 
God's glory," God " sanctified by His glory." Mr. Finney 
found many disciples, who, like those whom Paul found at 
Ephesus, had not received, or so much as heard of, the Holy 
Ghost, since they believed ; who had got as far as John's 
baptism of repentance, but not as far as Jesus' baptism of 
spiritual life and power. He taught the Church to go on 
from the grace of salvation to that of sanctifi cation, and still 
on to that of service, that each believer might be " a vessel, 
sanctified and made meet for the Master's use, prepared un- 
to every good work." 

Thus far, Mr. Finney's example is not certainly beyond 
the reach of imitation. But may we attain unto his great 
Faith ? How did that faith come to be so great ? Was it 
conferred outright, as a gift of God, or was it cultivated? 
We answ r er, that faith fed and grew upon the Word of God. 
He searched his Bible on his knees, and grouped its prom- 
ises, till unbelief fell, smitten, before the combined blaze of 
their testimony. It grew, again, by the experience of prayer. 
Experiment is the most convincing argument. God bids the 
doubting soul, " Enter into thy closet; " there " handle me 
and see ! " there " prove me, if I will not open you the win- 
dows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing till there be none 
left to pour out." Faith is confirmed by every new promise 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 65* 

which the prayerful soul grasps, and especially by every new 
experience of prayer answered. 

Was Mr. Finney's power as a preacher, in any measure 
communicable? Here again we note four imitable qualities; 
he was simple, sincere, scriptural, spiritual. 

His simplicity was seen in his singleness of aim, his sacred 
zeal to glorify God in saving and sanctifying souls. He 
cared more for the groan of one whom the arrow of truth 
had wounded, than for the shouts of an hundred praising the 
archer's skill. To reach and touch that which is deepest and 
most abiding in man was what he sought ; not to play on 
transient sensibilities and emotions, but to mould lasting con- 
victions, affections, resolutions. Hence he avoided dogma- 
tism, substituted argument for authority, assumed nothing, 
and led the mind on, step by step, to the embrace of truth. 
Then he struck for the Will. While the iron was at white 
heat, he brought down the hammer to give it shape ; with 
awful emphasis on personal responsibility and the obligation 
at once to choose life, he insisted on instant, decisive, visible 
action ! 

His singleness of aim begat simplicity of matter and manner \ 
His words did not hide his thought ; his illustrations did not 
call attention to themselves, for they were windows to let in 
light, and the elaborate frame-work and stained glass which 
adorn the window, make the light dim. He dared not inter- 
pose his greatness between dying souls and the cross, and 
desired to be nothing but the finger, pointing, and the voice 
saying : " Behold the Lamb of God ! " 

His obvious sincerity impressed his hearers with the con- 
viction that he believed and knew what he said. He bade 
his pupils preach only what was bathed in their own rich, 
personal experience. " Sensational " sermons were, to him, 
awful trifling, poulticing the deadly cancer which is eating at 
the vitals and calls, at once, for the knife ! This intense sin- 
cerity lent authority and majesty to his searching exposures 



66 Critical Estimates of 

of deceptive experiences and false hopes, such as rest upon 
the Ritualism which has the form, without the power, of 
godliness, or upon the Pharisaism which lacks the spirit and 
motive of a holy morality, or upon the dead past which is 
contradicted by the living present. It fitted him to rebuke 
the dishonesty toward God. which appears even in self-exam- 
ination and in prayer, asking for what we neither expect nor 
Will to receive, and in habitual disregard of the voice of 
conscience and of the Spirit. 

His preaching was Scriptural. The Bible was his con- 
stant and devout study, with the arrangement and adaptation 
of its truths to human souls. It was the armory where be 
found weapons, defensive and offensive, and took unto him 
the panoply of God ; the treasure, whence, as a householder, 
he brought forth things new and old. 

He preached the whole Gospel. The Law, with its stern 
demand and perfect standard, he used as a plough to sweep 
away refuges of lies and tear up false hopes by the roots ; then 
he followed it with the love of God, as the sower gently drops 
into the furrow the seed steeped in his tears. The sword of 
the Spirit is two-edged. Warning, or invitation, alone, like 
a scimetar, may strike effective blows in one direction ; but 
when the two keen edges meet in the point, they prepare us 
for the thrust that pierces to the joints and marrow. Thus 
Mr. Finney begat deep conviction of sin. As Socrates sought 
to lead men '' from ignorance unconscious to ignorance con- 
scious/' he aimed to produce that consciousness of guilt and 
peril without which there can be no deep sense of need or of 
obligation. 

How spiritual, too, was the tone of his preaching ! With 
what ardor and fervor he besought men to be justified and 
sanctified by faith. With what burning, glowing zeal, did 
he assail the sectarianism which cares for sect more than for 
Christ; the conventionalism whose " awful respectability" 
hampers ministers and churches by a false fastidiousness, 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 67 

and dares not break through the bonds of custom, and 
adopt a new measure, even to save a soul ! With what 
scathing rebuke he exposes the idle neglect that leaves gen- 
erations to die without the Gospel, though for each disciple 
to win one soul each year to Christ, would be to convert the 
world within the lifetime of a single generation I 

His preaching was spiritual in power as well as tone. He 
depended on the Spirit, whose blessed unction alone fits us 
to plead with men, or even to understand the Gospel. With 
the agony of Jacob at Jabbok, he sought the power to wit- 
ness. " Honor the Holy Spirit and He will honor you," was 
his maxim ; and he taught that without the habitual recog- 
nition of dependence on the Spirit, revivals neither begin 
nor continue. 

If any one secret of Mr. Finney's power be emphatic, it 
is this : he gave his whole soul to God. 

There is a Scottish legend for whose historic verity we do 
not vouch, that when Bruce, the Deliverer of Scotland, died, 
Douglas carried his heart, embalmed, into his battles with 
Edward IV. ; and that in the heat of the fight, he would fling 
the heart toward the enemy's lines and shout : " Forth, heart 
of Bruce, and Douglas will follow or die !" Charles G. Fin- 
ney flung his own heart forward to the feet of God — over 
and across this world, with its hollow treasures and shallow 
pleasures, into the spiritual and eternal ! Then he followed 
his heart, till, as a redeemed and perfected saint, he reached 
the goal where his affections had long been lodged ! 

Give yourself, with such sublime simplicity of aim, to God 
and His service ; empty yourself as completely of worldly 
and selfish ambition ; seek as devoutly to be filled and 
moved by the Spirit ; and God will be as willing to use you 
as a chosen vessel for His glory ! 



68 Critical Estimates of 

president finney's theological system and its gen- 
eral INFLUENCE. 
[By Rev. George F. Wright.] 

Others speak to us to-day of President Finney, as in some 
measure filling the role of a Whitefield, a St. Bernard, and a 
Gamaliel. The subject of our thoughts on this occasion was 
distinguished as a preacher of the Gospel, as a man of re- 
markable spiritual attainments, and as the founder of a 
school; .for, whatever share others may have had in laying 
the foundations of this institution, they would probably all 
of them readily yield the precedence to the distinguished re- 
vivalist who so early cast his lot in with this enterprise, and 
for more than a generation became its best known represen- 
tative abroad, and its spiritual inspiration at home. 

It is expected of me to speak of President Finney in the 
role of an Augustine, elaborating a theological system, and 
through it reaching onward with a direct grasp to the gener- 
ations of the future. 

With, of course, many qualities that are in contrast, these 
characters certainly have numerous striking points of resem- 
blance. Their early neglect of religion, the pronounced nat- 
ure of their conversion, and the overwhelming flood of 
emotion that accompanied it, the philosophical cast of their 
minds, and, what is more in point, the mental furniture with 
which they began and carried on their expositions of the 
Christian system of thought, give a striking likeness to these 
remarkable men. Augustine knew no Hebrew, and very 
little Greek. Yet, in the opinion of those best qualified to 
judge, " no single uninspired name has ever exercised such 
power over the Christian Church, and no one mind ever 
made such an impression upon Christian thought. ,, (Ency. 
Britan. on Principal Tulloch.) 

President Finney frankly acknowledged, that while he had 
studied Hebrew and Greek to some extent, he nevertheless 
did not consider himself competent to venture on any inde- 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 69 

penaent criticism of the Scriptures in their original lan- 
guages. Our English version was to him what the Vulgate 
was to Augustine. 

With regard to the future influence of President Finney's 
system of Theology, authorities differ. There are those 
who say of it, that it is already as dead as the Pharaoh whose 
host was drowned in the Red Sea. The present gathering 
is sufficient refutation of this idea. It does not, however, 
become us to be too sanguine in our assertions or our expec- 
tations, but calmly to consider the truth, and to bestow only 
that meed of honor which is actually due. In speaking of 
a system of thought, it is best not to presume upon the sym- 
pathy of the audience addressed, especially when they are 
admirers of the author of that system. We ought not to say 
anything here for which we would not willingly be called to 
account before his sympathetic auditors. Truth is truth ir- 
respective of the source from which it comes. The person- 
ality of the author fades from the view of even his survivors ; 
but of truth it is well said, " The eternal years of God are 
hers." 

President Finney's system of Theology may be described 
as a growth rather than a creation. He did not set himself 
to work in early life to write a symmetric treatise of Divinity. 
It has not the pointless mediocrity of such a production. 

But his system is the outgrowth of a profound religious and 
extensive practical experience, coupled with an unusual ap- 
titude for philosophical speculation and logical discrimina- 
tion. He has interpreted Scripture not after the delusive 
and belittling method of the mere linguist, who is so buried 
in the details of the grammar and the lexicon that he can 
never see the broad current of general doctrine that under- 
lies and comprehends it all. He is not like many of modern 
commentators, prevented from seeing the forest by reason of 
the multitude of trees. 

President Finney approaches the Bible, as every one must 



70 Critical Estimates of 

do, with a certain amount of presupposition regarding the 
nature of the subject to which it is addressed. In his view, 
as in that of Augustine, the Bible is a religious revelation to 
the common people, which does not to any great degree lose 
its perspicuity in a translation. Its main revelation is so 
plain that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err 
therein. It is a practical revelation of a highway of holi- 
ness, which is. not a substitute for common sense, but a sup- 
plement to it. Regarding the points in dispute among 
evangelical Christians, the characteristics of his system are 
briefly these : 

i. The human will is self-determining in its action. 

2. Obligation is limited by ability. 

3. All virtuous choice terminates upon the good of beings, 
and, in the ultimate analysis, on the good of being in gen- 
eral. 

4. The will is never divided in its action, but with what- 
ever momentum it has at each instant, it is either wholly vir- 
tuous or wholly sinful. 

With regard to total depravity, he accepts it as a biblical 
doctrine, that all the acts of men since the fall, and previous 
to regeneration, are sinful. 

Regeneration and conversion are treated as synonymous 
terms, descriptive of a coetaneous act both of the Holy Spirit 
and of the human will. He is content to accept the facts 
and let alone the mystery; insisting, however, that the hu- 
man reason is always so far respected, that the truth is in all 
cases the instrument through which conversion is secured 
by the Spirit. 

The condition into which men are brought by regeneration 
is either that of continued holiness, increasing in volume, or 
of states alternating from entire holiness to entire sinfulness ; 
the former state finally predominating, and ending, according 
to the ordinary Calvinistic doctrine of perseverance, in ever- 
lasting salvation. The final perseverance of the saints is 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 71 

accepted as a revealed truth, which the reason can not con- 
tradict, and whose mysteries are left with the Lord. 

Likewise, the doctrine of election is maintained as being, 
in the wisdom of God, our only assurance that the salvation 
of any will be secured. There is a plan of salvation whose 
means and ends were chosen from eternity, and which is 
now unfolding before us. 

In this plan Christ is the central figure ; a being who is 
both God and man, and whose humiliation and sufferings 
are a governmental substitute for the punishment of those 
who are sanctified through faith in His name. The Atone- 
ment satisfies the demands of general justice, and its provi- 
sions are freely offered to all men. Almost all the statements 
we have here given would be accepted by what are called 
New School Calvinists. 

The exceptions would relate to the nature of virtue so far 
as concerns the ground of obligation, the simplicity of moral 
action, and the process of sanctification. 

So far, however, as relates to the nature of holiness, Presi- 
dent Finney's system is the first cousin, if not the grandson 
of that of President Edwards the elder. The Oberlin stu- 
dent finds himself very much at home in Dr. Samuel Hop- 
kins' " Inquiry into the Nature of True Holiness," which is 
scarcely more than a development of the Edwardian theory 
of virtue. 

To avoid the charge sometimes made against this theory, 
that it substitutes abstract for concrete objects of love, or, 
as Dr. Hodge states it, puts " the universe in the place of 
God, as that to which our allegiance is due," President 
Finney was very particular to use a formula in which God 
was expressed. In designating the objects of love, he was 
over-careful to say, " God and the universe." At the same 
time he emphasized as much as President Edwards the 
thought that " all other beings, even the whole universe, is 
as nothing in comparison of the Divine Being." The charge 



72 Critical Estimates of 

of Dr. Hodge, as made against President Finney, is one of 
the grossest literary blunders that was ever committed. For 
it was made against a two hundred-fold repetition, designed 
to guard against that very misconception. We trust that in 
the new edition of President Finney's works which is con- 
templated, his editors will not curtail those repetitions. 

The view of benevolence of which President Finney was 
so noteworthy as a defender, and so powerful as a preacher, 
is adopted in an unparalleled degree for the maintenance of 
just views, both of the goodness and the severity of God. 
By regarding "benevolence" as a good willing/' as the gene- 
ric virtue under which all minor virtues range themselves as 
species, we are raised to a point of view from which the 
reason can not indeed and of itself prove the evangelical 
doctrines of Christianity, but from which it can most easily 
approve them. 

De Quincey has well remarked that Christianity is the 
only religious system that provides any place for preaching, 
in the true sense of that word. Dr. Albert Barnes has nar- 
rowed the field to still closer limits, and has shown us that all 
great preachers have gone for their most effective weapons 
to the armory now in possession of the New School Calvin- 
ists. It is an old saying, that Calvinists preach Arminian- 
ism, and that Arminians pray Calvinism, and so in one way 
or the other the whole truth of both is preserved by congre- 
gations of either stamp; and, therefore, neither of these 
bodies of Christians has been abandoned to the uncove- 
nanted mercies of God. 

President Finney has, we believe, succeeded better than 
any other author with whose writings we are acquainted, in 
elaborating a system of Theology which combines and har- 
monizes the truth of these contending parties. He has done 
this in part in a negative way, by not philosophizing over- 
much. Contrary to an industriously propagated impression, 
we affirm that it is not the New School Calvinists who are 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 73 

spoiling the Evangelical system by an excess of philosophy. 
The charge, rather, pertains to the so-called Old School 
theologians, who burden the system with their inflexible 
theories of " an imputed guilt, which is not actual guilt ;" 
with an idea of obligation which is dissevered from ability. 
It is the Old School theologians who enter into the philos- 
ophy of regeneration, and attempt to prove a universal nega- 
tive regarding it, asserting that it is an act of the Spirit 
which is not moral and persuasive. They undertake to 
prove that in regeneration the Spirit produces a change " in 
those immanent dispositions, principles, tastes, or habits, 
which underlie all conscious exercises." 

In President Finney's theory of virtue, especially in his 
statement of the simplicity of moral action, he is sometimes 
accused of rationalism, while in his doctrine of sanctifica- 
tion he is liable to the charge of mysticism. His theory 
that each act of the will is wholly right or altogether wrong, 
gives him this advantage, that he can interpret in an abso- 
lute manner the command to " Love God with all our heart." 
At the same time the ground of hope that we shall attain 
actual stability and constancy in holy exercises of the heart, 
is open for discussion on independent principles. 

The questions concerning the assurance we may have of 
a state of entire, i.e., continuous, sanctifi cation in this life, and, 
if attainable, the methods by which it may be obtained, fall 
into the same category with those concerning perseverance 
of the saints, and security in our heavenly estate. The 
maxim upon this point, deducible from this theory of sim- 
plicity in the action of the will, is, " sufficient for the day is 
the evil thereof." His exhortation with regard to sanctifi- 
cation is really nothing more than this : Give perfect obe- 
dience now to the will of God ; fill your minds to their 
utmost present capacity with the persuasive knowledge of 
Christ ; open your hearts in the fullest manner to the present 
work of the Holy Spirit. This may keep you for the future, 
4 



74 Critical Estimates of 

but our duty is always with the present. The large space 
in his systematic theology which President Finney has de- 
voted to the offices of Christ in securing our sanctification, 
will always remain classic passages upon that subject, and 
wherever they are known, will be valued most highly by the 
most devout in the Christian Church. No one is more ready 
than he to exalt Christ and crown Him Lord of all. If it 
be rationalism to use words in such a manner that they are 
self-consistent, and to propound a philosophy which neither 
does violence to the reason nor robs Christ of His glory, the 
charge need not be feared. And on the other hand, with 
regard to mysticism, it is essential to emphasize thus the 
pre-eminence of Christ, for there is no magical power in the 
formulas of President Finney's system either to determine 
practical duty for us, or to determine us to duty. The good 
of being, considered as a general conception which we are 
to choose, is so diffused, so vast, and so far off, that the 
choice of it does not of itself aid us much in threading our 
w r ay through the practical questions of casuistry. The navi- 
gator needs a chart of the ocean as well as a look at the 
North star, to guide his course through the shoals and into 
the harbor. After we have chosen the highest well-being of 
God and the universe, we shall have to fall back on all the 
old-time helps of laws, customs, traditions, tendencies of 
mind and revelation, in order to determine what things to 
do and what to leave undone. 

The Edwardian theory of virtue is in no sense a substi- 
tute for the Gospel. It is only an unfolding of the words of 
Christ when He said that all the Law and the Prophets hung 
on the two commandments, to u Love God with all the heart, 
and our neighbor as ourselves." Under this divinely enun- 
ciated law, the Gospel ranges itself as the clearest of all 
revelations of subordinate duties, and the most persuasive 
of all incentives to virtuous action, and the most perfect 
vindication of the justice and mercy of our God. 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 75 

President Finney's example is invaluable in this, that he 
leaves no excuses for sin ; that he presses home upon all 
present responsibility ; that he exalts the Atonement of 
Christ, and magnifies the Holy Spirit. His system must be 
judged as a whole. The student who stays one year at 
Oberlin, and goes two years somewhere else, will be in dan- 
ger of getting just enough of it to misunderstand it. We 
understand no theory of virtue till we have adjusted it in a 
complete system of theology. Of the many advantages of 
the comprehensive theory of virtue we are here discussing, 
it is not the least that it affords a ready solution to the 
increasingly difficult problems of final causes which scien- 
tific discussions are forcing upon us. It is becoming more 
and more hazardous in us to say for what ends particular 
contrivances in nature were designed. The scheme of nat- 
ure grows upon us in its vastness and comprehensiveness. 
We can no longer refrain from giving to final causes a unity 
that is as far off and, made up of as many particulars, as the 
last, end in virtuous choice. 

W T ith God, to choose is to perform. He chooses the good 
of being, and everything in heaven and on earth, and un- 
der the earth, is designed for the promotion of that end. 
We can not fathom any of His ways, but halt along with 
such provisional interpretation as serves the practical ends 
of our existence. For knowledge, both of personal duties 
and of God's subordinate designs, we have to pray for daily 
bread, and we go forth six days in the week to gather the 
manna that comes down from heaven. 

The end for which anything is created is the sum of all 
the uses to which it is ever put. This principle, which in 
its sphere is coincident with President Finney's definition of 
virtue, is destined yet, I have no doubt, to play an important 
part in adjusting natural theology to scientific theories of 
nature. An Oberlin student will have less trouble with such 
theories than any one else. In stating correctly the true 



j6 Critical Estimates of 

theory of virtue, one has put himself in the way of recon- 
ciling every problem of recent scientific investigation as it 
stands related to the doctrine of design in nature. 



SERMON BY PRESIDENT FAIRCHILD. 

PRESIDENT FINNEY THE PREACHER, THE TEACHER, AND THE 

MAN. 
M Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." — John vi. 12. 

If the abundant and satisfactory presentation of " Memo- 
rial Day " had been anticipated by my brethren of the Fac- 
ulty, they would scarcely have felt that anything farther was 
required ; and indeed the task which they have assigned me 
is like that of gathering up the fragments after the feast ; 
but for such a service we have the authority of the Master. 

Next to the being and the work of God Himself, the most 
interesting object of contemplation is human character and 
human life. What we commonly call nature has its charms, 
and natural science becomes to many an attractive and ab- 
sorbing study. A microscopic plant or animal presents a 
field of inquiry and research to which an enthusiast may de- 
vote his life. It is to him full of interest in itself, and as an 
expression of the thought of God. But the humblest hu- 
man life with its experiences, its purposes and achievements, 
is intrinsically more important than the whole range of nat- 
ure, as the gem is more important than its setting ; and 
contemplated as a work of God, an exhibition of His truth 
and faithfulness and gentleness, the material creation, the 
heavens above and the earth beneath, become of small mo- 
ment in the comparison. And when such a life, wrought 
into great movements involving the interests of men and of 
the kingdom of God in the world, comes to a close, we may 
well turn aside to consider the lessons it has brought us. 

Especially is it fit that at Oberlin, with the closing of the 
work of the College year, we should pause and take note of 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 77 

a grand career of service and of fidelity which since the 
year began has for this world reached its end. If Charles 
G. Finney had not lived, and labored, Oberlin could not 
have existed. Other servants of God, just as faithful, are 
rightly reckoned the founders of this school and of this com- 
munity ; but when we look farther, we must consider them 
as the outgrowth of a great religious movement in the land, 
the embodiment of certain controlling ideas of Christian 
labor and Christian culture. These ideas and impulses 
wrought through John J. Shipherd and his associates in the 
laying of the foundations at Oberlin; but if we trace back 
the impulse to its earthly source, we shall be led to the 
thought and the heart of Mr. Finney. This educational 
enterprise was the fruit, not very remote, of his work. Af- 
ter the foundations were laid at Oberlin, Mr. Finney came 
in with his personal presence and accumulated power, and 
impressed his thought and life upon the community and the 
school as few men could have done. It has been thought 
proper, on the first anniversary after Mr. Finney's death, to 
devote this hour to the contemplation of his life and work 
as shown in the preacher, the teacher, and the man. 

Mr. Finney commenced his special wodk as a preacher in 
the character of an evangelist. His thought and aim were 
to rouse the churches to a higher life, and more effective ac- 
tivity, and to secure at once the conversion of multitudes to 
Christ. To this form of labor he had a call scarcely less 
distinct than that of an apostle. Whatever may be thought 
in general of the work of an evangelist among the churches, 
for a permanent arrangement, no one can reasonably ques- 
tion that this career was appointed to him by divine author- 
ity. The inward conviction and impulse and the outward 
signs all led in this direction. An experience in his conver- 
sion only a little less marked than that of Paul, an intensity 
of nature and of activity as if the truth of God were " a 
burning fire shut up in his bones," a yearning compassion 



73 Critical Estimates of 

for souls in darkness and sin, and a zeal for God that burned 
upon him without consuming, a power to pierce the most 
thoughtless heart with conviction Tdv a word or a look, were 
the signs of this divine call. 

Another fact may well be considered in explanation of the 
independent attitude he assumed, and the work he was call- 
ed to do. Mr. Finney was taken from the world, and not 
from the Church. He was brought up with very slight asso- 
ciation with religious institutions or churchly influences. 
With a nature strongly impressible to religious truth, and 
drawn to its contemplation as by a kind of fascination, he 
had still stood apart from the church, in the attitude of a 
critic upon her doctrines and her life. He had no such as- 
sociation with religious people as led him to look to them for 
counsel, or to seek their guidance in the determination of his 
work. His natural independence of character doubtless led 
in the same direction ; but if he had been brought up with- 
in the fold instead of without, with a life-long respect for 
the ministry and the ordinances of the Church, it is quite 
credible that another form of labor would have attracted 
him. The training he had received in his pursuit of the 
law, co-operated to the same result. He was not hampered 
by any associations from instruction in catechisms, or any 
forms of sound words with which the Church indoctrinates 
her children, and which in general are doubtless wholesome 
in their action. He came to the study of the Bible and the 
doctrines of the Gospel with the same freedom of judgment 
and of rational instinct with which he had apprehended and 
embraced the principles of law, and looked for a similar 
self-evident truthfulness. Thus he turned away at once 
* from the old school dogmas of sin in the nature, of obliga- 
tion beyond ability, of the literal transfer of the sinner's 
guilt and punishment to Christ, and of regeneration by a 
change of nature. These, so far as he knew, were at the 
time the prevalent doctrines of the Church. He found them, 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 79 

as he believed, in the Westminster Confession; and in dis- 
carding them, he naturally felt that he was departing from 
the traditions of the Church, and taking a position in a meas- 
ure antagonistic to that held by the ministry in general. 
The outspoken boldness of his preaching, in these directions, 
led, on the other hand, to apprehensions and suspicions, on 
the part of many, as to his soundness in the faith ; and thus 
all the influences conspired to confirm him in this somewhat 
independent line of labor. The strong conviction, begin- 
ning with his conversion, and abiding with him to the end, 
that he must look to divine rather than human guidance, 
naturally disposed him to mark out a path for himself ; and 
thus, probably unconsciously at first, he entered upon the 
career of a reformer in the Church. The mission to which 
he felt himself appointed was that of saving men ; and he 
rejected the old forms of doctrine because they were a hin- 
drance and not a help in his work. He needed doctrines 
which he could preach, and which would move the con- 
sciences of men. In submitting himself to God, he had con- 
sciously yielded to the truth, and he came to depend upon 
the truth as the power of God unto salvation. Thus he was 
led to readjust and restate for his own uses as a preacher of 
salvation, the great doctrines of grace. He was naturally a 
keen analyst in the range of philosophic thought, and few 
men have had an intenser relish for such studies, on the 
ground of their own intrinsic interest ; but it was not as a 
philosopher that he pushed his inquiries, but as a servant of 
Christ to whom a dispensation of the Gospel had been com- 
mitted. On his knees before his open Bible, sustained by 
the sympathy and prayers of one good elder, he wrought out 
his theological system — not that he might become a reform- 
er in theology, but that he might qualify himself as " a work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the 
word of truth. " Other men in the churches were at the 
same time working for similar modifications of the old Cal- 



80 Critical Estimates of 

vinism — men like Taylor and Beecher in New England, and 
Beman and Aiken and others in New York ; but with these 
men Mr. Finney had at this time no communication. He 
had no opportunity to confer with " flesh and blood," but 
received his Gospel as the word of God communicated to his 
mind by the illumination of the Spirit. Thus he went forth 
to his work as a preacher, with the full conviction that he 
had a message from God for men ; and this conviction was 
strong upon him during the fifty years of his public life and 
labor. 

This persuasion ruled in his soul and shaped his thought 
and his work. Probably no sermon of his ever made the im- 
pression that he had wrought upon it as a work of art, al- 
though the spirit of his work was that of the truest art. His 
aim was to bring the truth home to men in such forms as to 
control their thoughts and move their hearts and decide 
their action. To this end the truth itself was put foremost ; 
and form and embellishment were made wholly subordi- 
nate. His own clear apprehension of the truth enabled him 
to give his doctrine such a statement that it would be ac- 
cepted as self-evidently true. Thus he taught as one having 
authority, who had a right to require assent to his message ; 
and few men ever commanded a wider assent to their doc- 
trines. 

The manner of his discourse was simple, direct, conver- 
sational rather at the opening. Beginning with the simplest 
propositions, defining carefully the idea he was to present, 
telling first what it was not, and then what it was, he 
advanced to the profounder views of his discourse, and thus 
gradually paved the way to a powerful appeal to the hearts 
and consciences of his hearers. In the days of his full 
strength his principal discourse upon the Sabbath seldom 
fell short of an hour and a half in length, and often extended 
to two hours ; and to the end of his days he rarely preached 
less than an hour. The modern demand for short sermons 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 8i 

found no sympathy with him. Perhaps this view sometimes 
prevailed in his audience. It seemed at times that the first 
half-hour devoted to laying the foundation might profitably 
have been saved, by assuming that his hearers in general 
apprehended and accepted the elementary truths with which 
he introduced his discourse. But it was probably true that 
he could not give us the last without the first. By these 
simple steps he gradually rose to the heights of his theme, 
and it was very rare that the view from those heights did 
not compensate for the patient climbing. As the great truths 
kindled upon his imagination and his heart, the whole inten- 
sity of his nature was aroused, and he poured out upon his 
audience a fervid torrent of argument, expostulation, and 
entreaty. The general impression of his sermons, was that 
of intense solemnity, and earnestness, and yearning love. 
However stern, and awful even, the presentation of the 
truth might be, no one ever could mistake the compassion- 
ate love that often choked the utterance and bathed the 
face with tears. If at times he seemed to take his place 
with God, and stand almost as the herald of His indignation 
against sin and the sinner, he never failed to illustrate the 
Divine compassion which would rescue the sinner from his 
ruin. 

He had rare power in touching the consciences of men. 
However plausible and comely, or concealed a worldly char- 
acter might be, under his steady hand the adornments and 
disguises fell away, and sin, and all forgetfulness, and neglect 
of God appeared in their intrinsic hideousness. To him sin 
in its own nature was mean and vile, however amiable or 
graceful the form it might take ; and respectable sinners as 
well as others felt his searching appeals. 

But with all his solemnity and intensity of earnestness, his 

discourses were often relieved with bursts of humor which 

diffused themselves over the assembly in a rippling smile. 

Such a response seemed never to disturb him, nor to detract 

4* 



82 Critical Estimates of 

from the solemn impression. The next response would be 
breathless silence and tears. 

While Mr. Finney's views of truth were in general remark- 
ably clear and definite to his own thought, it was impossible 
that with so fervid and intense a nature, his statements should 
not often be rhetorical instead of literal and exact. The 
thought which he w r as urging seemed often to fill his vision, 
and you would almost think it was the only truth he appre- 
hended. Indeed, it is probable that for the time the truth 
seemed to him just as he presented it. He did not con- 
sciously overstate it, or to his own thought indulge in hyper- 
bole. But one who had not been carried on by the tide of 
his thought and feeling would find it necessary now and then 
to limit the statement by some related and modifying truth. 
If he w T ere preaching on self-denial, and urging the duty of 
counting all things but loss for Christ and His cause, he 
might seem to one not familiar with his opinions and his 
style of discourse, to inculcate ascetic views — a renunciation 
of the pleasures and enjoyments of life as mischie\ r ous or 
wrong in themselves. If he were urging Christian economy, 
the duty of consecrating every faculty and possession to the 
service of the Master, as opposed to a self-indulgent use of 
God's gifts, the uninformed hearer would understand him to 
discard all beauty, all adornment and art, and to inculcate 
a bald and narrow utilitarianism. Once when exhorting the 
young men of his classes to a true missionary zeal, a readi- 
ness to go forth to any field without anxiety as to needed 
supplies, he told them that a young man was not fit for a 
missionary who could not take an ear of corn in his pocket 
and start for the Rocky Mountains ; and this was forty years 
ago,when only here and there a hardy traveler had penetrated 
that distant region. Doubtless somew T hat of his power as a 
preacher lay in such intense conceptions and expressions of 
the truth ; but it sometimes led to misapprehension of his 
views ; and it was not safe for a hearer to assume that he 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 83 

understood them until he had viewed them with the preacher 
from different sides. He aimed at a definite and strong 
impression, and that view of truth seized upon his mind and 
heart which was adapted to make this impression. It would 
have weakened the impression to attempt to define the exact 
limitations of the truth, and give it in harmony with other 
truths. It was safe to assume that the hearer would apply 
all needed limitations. But there was an apparent uncon- 
sciousness on the part of the preacher, that he was not pre- 
senting the truth in its exact proportions. Probably most 
effective preachers partake of this characteristic. The fact 
does not prove that a partial truth is more effective than the 
truth, but there are limitations in the human understanding 
and the human heart; and a sharp point will often penetrate 
when a broader stroke would be resisted. 

Mr. Finney's renown as a preacher was attained during 
his ten years of preaching as a revivalist, before he entered 
upon the work at Oberlin. Although religious intelligence 
was very slowly diffused, and all means of communication 
were limited as compared with the present ; yet his name 
and his fame were known throughout the land, and his sup- 
posed views on controverted doctrines were warmly discussed 
even in the rural districts and on the Western frontier. Those 
who received his views were often called Finneyites. His 
noted sermon on the text, " Can two walk together except 
they be agreed?" foreshadowed somewhat the divisions which 
followed his preaching. 

Coming to Oberlin, he took up the work of teaching, but 
he never ceased to be a preacher. He became pastor of the 
church at Oberlin, and preached ordinarily one sermon on 
the Sabbath, and often a weekly lecture, for more than thirty- 
five years. His style of preaching was gradually changed in 
connection with his new work and field. It became less 
rhetorical and more didactic — the natural result of his work 
in the lecture-room. The entire congregation, or rather the 



S4 Critical Estimates of 

entire people — for there was but a single congregation in the 
place during the first twenty years — became his theological 
class, and were thoroughly drilled in the great truths, and 
doctrines, and duties which filled his mind and heart. Under 
these circumstances the habit grew upon him of presenting 
the theme of his discourse with multitudinous and minute 
divisions and sub-divisions — a habit which has often been 
made the occasion of criticism. The logical relation of these 
divisions was not always carefully maintained, but it was 
generally clear that he had a definite aim in every new state- 
ment, even if it seemed in words little more than a restate- 
ment. A fellow-student at my side, when once we were 
engaged in the class-room in criticising sermons with our 
instructor in homiletics, and an allusion had been made to 
Mr. Finney's tendency to " split heads," instantly replied, 
" Yes, but when Mr. Finney splits a head, an armed Minerva 
generally leaps out." 

But this didactic and lecturing method rarely characterized 
his entire discourse. When he had cleared his way by these 
formal statements of the truth, he applied it to the living, 
needy souls before him with the full force of his earnest and 
yearning soul. He did not cease to be a revival preacher in the 
quiet life at Oberlin. Every term and every month brought 
new students that needed to be converted, and the spiritual 
progress of his flock was to him a matter of constant and 
absorbing interest. He might justly address his people as 
Paul did the Galatians : " My little children, of whom I 
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." His 
familiarity with the people in the Sabbath services, was like 
that of a father in the midst of his family. If, in the appli- 
cation of his discourse, it became convenient to call by name 
a member of the congregation, it struck no one as an im- 
propriety. No one could question his motive or his kind- 
ness of heart. So in the prayer before the sermon, he would 
bring before the Lord, in the style of familiar reverent con- 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 85 

versation, the wants of the people in a manner so minute 
and particular, that each one felt that he was personally pre- 
sented, and the utterance of a name sometimes removed any 
lingering doubt. These morning prayers were a feature of 
the church services at Oberlin for many years. They were 
conformed to no standard or model. They embraced not 
merely confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, according 
to the approved ideal of a prayer, but seemed to be free and 
confidential communication of pastor and people with the 
Lord, in which opinions, and experiences, and hopes and 
fears were mingled with the supplications. One who heard 
for the first time, might be startled at the familiarity of tone 
— might at first even be shocked at the apparent irreverence ; 
but listening farther, he would see it was the language of 
confiding love — the reverence of a soul who had " seen the 
King in His beauty." 

It was not a rare thing with him throughout his pastorate, 
as in his previous labors as an evangelist, after an earnest 
presentation of the truth, to call upon the people to make 
their decision, and pledge themselves to the Lord upon the 
question of duty submitted.- When the people had listened 
to an earnest appeal on the text, u Choose ye this day whom 
ye will serve/' they were not dismissed to ponder the ques- 
tion at home, but were brought at once to the test, and 
asked to stand up before the Lord and pledge their fidelity 
to Him. From a weaker man such a call would have seemed 
an impertinence ; but from him it seemed scarcely less ap- 
propriate than from Joshua or Elijah. 

In coming to Oberlin, Mr. Finney did "hot intend to lay 
aside his work as an evangelist. He retained his place as a 
preacher in the Broadway Tabernacle in New York City, 
where he proposed to spend each winter in revival labors ; 
and when this arrangement was terminated, it was his cus- 
tom for twenty-five years to devote the winter to evangelistic 
labors, chiefly in the cities ; and twice during this period he 



86 Critical Estimates of 

crossed the ocean, and spent a year and a half on each occa- 
sion, in most abundant and successful labors in England and 
Scotland. Calls for such labors were constantly urged upon 
him, and sometimes his health or the demands of the home- 
work would lead him to hesitate. But as the winter came 
on, his spirit was stirred within him, and like a veteran war- 
rior he hastened to the conflict. The twofold idea of the 
glory of God and the salvation of men, seemed to blend into 
one mighty impulse to press him into the field. He had no 
more doubt of his call to preach than any prophet ever had 
of his own mission, and the outward results fully justified 
this inward conviction. 

It was somewhat remarkable that such a man, after such a 
career of ten years, beginning at Evans' Mills as a mission- 
ary in the new country, and ending in the Broadway Taber- 
nacle,, the center of potent influences gathered to bear upon 
the city, should have accepted the idea of settling down to 
the quiet work of teaching in a new school in the wilder- 
ness of Ohio. But to him it was not a change of his general 
plan, but merely a change of his base of operations. He 
began to feel indications of declining strength, and he was 
led to look about him for the agencies which were to carry 
forward the work which he had begun. Some of his friends, 
too, had begun to feel the importance of having his theo- 
logical views and his ideas of Christian work impressed 
upon a class of young men who were about to enter the min- 
istry. This class, providentially prepared, having dropped 
out of Lane Seminary, was waiting at Cincinnati for an in- 
structor ; and a* the same time a place had been provided 
in the wilderness of northern Ohio, where teacher and pu- 
pils could be received, and the foundation laid of a theo- 
logical school. So far a*s any human plan was involved, 
these three conditions were independent of each other, but 
under Divine ordering they were brought together, and thus 
began Mr. Finney's work as an instructor ; and thus, with 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 87 

the aid of other co-laborers, grew up the theological school at 
Oberlin, and thus the whole Oberlin enterprise was rein- 
forced and sustained. But for this accession its field would 
have been very limited, and even its continued existence 
most uncertain. The interests which had been accumu- 
lating about Mr. Finney during the preceding years, were 
transferred in great measure to Oberlin, and friends and 
foes alike began to look to this new center for something 
good or something bad, according to their views of Mr. Fin- 
ney, and both classes saw what they expected to see. 

Here he commenced his work as a teacher of theology, 
and prosecuted it until his death — a period of forty years. 
His qualifications for the work were an acute, analytical 
mind, naturally inclined to philosophical thought, especially 
in its bearing upon theology, a power of clear discrimination 
and appreciation of differences of thought and expression, 
entire freedom from the trammels of traditional doctrine, 
with a conservative leaning to the historical faith of the 
Church, a disposition to adhere to the Old unless the New ap- 
proved itself to him as more in harmony with Scripture and 
with reason. Thus he was no destructionist, with a passion 
to pull down rather than to build up — no negationist, satis- 
fied with a denial of the old faith. He was a positive, and 
earnest, and intense believer. The truth as it is in Jesus was 
his life and his hope, and in his view the life and hope of 
the world ; and all schemes for the good of mankind he 
judged by their relation to the Gospel system. But in doc- 
trine nothing but the truth, as he saw it, could satisfy him. 
Hence in his classes he was always a learner with his pupils. 
His method of instruction was to draw out his pupils in in- 
quiry and discussion, and thus establish in them the power 
and the habit of independent thought. All his own views, 
as well as *".hose of his pupils, were subjected to this ordeal ; 
and it was no rare thing for him to readjust his doctrinal 
statement to meet the new light which he thus obtained. It 



83 Critical Estimates of 

was vain to bring against his better view some former argu- 
ment or statement of his own. He would smilingly reply to 
any such suggestion, " Well, I don't agree with Finney on 
that point." It was his aim to be right rather than consis- 
tent. But his interest in philosophical truth was always sub- 
ordinate to his great aim of bringing human souls to God, 
and thus his great anxiety in reference to his pupils always 
was that the Gospel should possess their hearts and shape 
their-lives. No member of his class was in doubt that this 
was the burden of his soul. In certain portions of his year- 
ly course he took special pains to give his instruction a prac- 
tical turn, so that every pupil should be brought up to a 
higher Christian experience. Sometimes in his opening 
prayer with his class, he would be specially exercised in his 
anxiety for their spiritual enlargement ; and there are those 
who remember instances in which the outpouring of his soul 
consumed the entire hour, and they will never forget those 
seasons in which he seemed to bear them up with himself to 
the very presence-chamber of the Most High. 

His manner in the class w r as animated, cheerful, and not 
seldom mirthful. A burst of laughter from the class never 
disturbed him, and no laughter was more hearty than his 
own. At one time on account of feeble health he gathered 
his class to his own house, where they enjoyed the easy-chairs 
and sofas of his parlor. One member of the class betrayed 
a tendency to drowsiness in these very comfortable condi- 
tions, and as he always dismissed his class with a prayer, he 
prayed that all his pupils might be interested in their study 
and kept from sleeping. The next day as they gathered to 
the same room, they werjs a little disconcerted to find that 
the easy-chairs were all removed, and their places occupied 
by straight-backed chairs from the kitchen. Mr. Finney 
entered with a sly twinkle in his eye, and said, " Brethren, 
the Lord has shown me how to answer my own prayer." 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 89 

Such pleasantry was of frequent recurrence, and constituted 
one of the charms of his instruction. 

His system of doctrine, when he came to Oberlin, was the 
New School Calvinism, in its essential features the theology 
of such men as Lyman Beecher and N. W. Taylor — what has 
come to be recognized as the advanced New England Theol- 
ogy. At this time he was recognized as orthodox, according 
to the New School standards, as is shown by the fact that 
after his appointment at Oberlin he was invited to the*chair 
of " Pastoral Theology and Sacred Eloquence " in Western 
Reserve College at Hudson, with the intimation that if he 
preferred the chair of " Didactic Theology/' his preference 
might be considered. 

This Theology he inculcated in his classes, and with a 
few modifications, or improvements, as Mr. Finney regarded 
them, it became the Oberlin Theology as it has sometimes 
been called. 

The feature of his teaching which excited distrust, and 
which alienated from him many of his old friends, was the 
doctrine of Sanctification. A careful study of his teaching 
on this subject would have allayed anxiety, even if it did 
not produce assent; but the times were unpropitious. The 
suspicion of heresy was aroused in the land, and New School 
men were in haste to purge themselves from the suspicion. 
They had enough to bear without taking upon themselves 
any new burdens. Thus, so far as the Congregational and 
Presbyterian churches of the land were concerned, the re- 
sponsibility of discussing and adjusting the doctrine of Sanc- 
tification fell chiefly upon Mr. Finney and his associates at 
Oberlin. Whether any progress was made in the undertak- 
ing, remains perhaps to be determined. Those years of 
thought and labor and prayer, with the hallowed experiences 
which attended, must yield some result to mankind. One 
of these results may and will be a clearer apprehension of 



90 Critical Estimates of 

Gospel truth, upon the great questions of Christian char- 
acter and experience. 

Another point elaborated by Mr. Finney in his work as an 
instructor, belongs rather to ethical philosophy than to prac- 
tical religion — It is the problem of the nature of virtue, or 
as he preferred to call it, the foundation of moral obligation. 
The idea of reducing all virtue to benevolence, and of mak- 
ing the well-being of the universe, with God at its head, the 
grand reason or ground of all obligation, was not original 
with Mr. Finney. That is, others had presented this view 
before him. Yet he doubtless worked it out for himself. 
President Edwards the elder, and his friend Samuel Hop- 
kins, of ^Newport, had presented this view, and had given it 
a footing in the New England Theology ; but it had not ob- 
tained a general acceptance. The more prevalent theory 
was that of an abstract right or eternal fitness, in the light 
of which the Tightness or wrongness of all actions is deter- 
mined ; and of this theory President Mahan, of Oberlin, was 
a strenuous and able advocate. In connection with prolong- 
ed and earnest discussion, in the class-room and in gather- 
ings of the entire community, Mr. Finney wrought out his 
own system, making benevolence the whole of virtue, and 
the well-being of the sentient universe the final, absolute 
good in the presence of which all obligation arises. This 
system he elaborated in all its details, and published in its 
final form in the English edition of his " Systematic Theolo- 
gy." This treatise on the nature and foundation of obliga- 
tion has not received the recognition which it merits. Its 
author, at the time of its publication, and many years after- 
ward, was under the ban of suspected or doubtful ortho- 
doxy ; and his words commanded only limited attention. 
Then again the volume was too formidable in its dimensions 
and general aspect to attract any but the most determined 
readers. But it will be difficult to find, in the range of phi- 
losophical literature, a more thorough and exhaustive discus- 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 91 

sion of such a theme. In masterly grasp of the subject, 
clearness of insight, and sharpness of discrimination, and in 
the conclusiveness of its logic, it will not suffer in compari- 
son with the great efforts of President Edwards ; and as a 
discussion of the great problem in ethics, it covers ground, 
and makes discriminations, and establishes points far in ad- 
vance of Edwards' " Treatise on the Nature of Virtue," 
which deservedly ranks so high. 

The utilitarian philosophers of the modern English school 
would find in this treatise a clearer statement of whatever 
truth they hold, and a demonstration of the errors into 
which they have fallen. A pupil, a disciple, who has found 
in this profound and luminous teaching the inspiration of 
his life, may be expected to speak thus of the master. But 
men who were not his pupils, and who were trained in dif- 
ferent theological views, have borne similar testimony. Dr. 
Redford, a prominent theologian of Worcester, England, 
wrote a preface to the English edition of Mr. Finney's 
theology, in which we find these words : "As a contribu- 
tion to theological science, in an age when vague speculation 
and philosophical theories are bewildering many among all 
denominations of Christians, this woik will be considered 
by all competent judges to be both valuable and seasonable. 
Upon several important and difficult subjects the author has 
thrown a clear and valuable light, which will guide many 
a student through perplexities and difficulties which he had 
long sought unsuccessfully to explain. The editor [/. e., Dr. 
Redford himself] frankly confesses that when a student, he 
would gladly have bartered half the books in his library, to 
have gained a single perusal of these lectures ; and he can 
not refrain from expressing the belief that no young student 
of theology will ever regret the purchase or perusal of Mr. 
Finney's lectures." 

It can not be maintained that the literary arrangement 
and execution of his theological writings were equal to their 



92 Critical Estimates of 

strength and power of thought, nor that the same thorough- 
ness and clearness of conception always characterized the 
movement of his mind. Like other men, he had his bewil- 
derments, and it seems probable that a more systematic 
training in early life would have given a higher value and 
wider acceptance to his written thought. But in view of 
all the facts it may be questioned whether any public 
preacher or teacher, during the last fifty years,, has made a 
profounder impression upon the religious thought of the age. 

But back of the preacher and the teacher, was the per- 
sonal character — the man ; and Mr. Finney was quite as 
impressive in what he was as in what he did. He was gifted 
with large and generous powers, and in any walk in life 
must have been a man of mark. Those elements, so difficult 
to define, which make up what we call personal power, were 
found in him in the largest measure ; yet it can not be 
doubted that the field of religious thought and action gave 
the widest scope to his peculiar genius. No proper account 
of his character and his work can be given without a recog- 
nition of the grace of God which was upon him, in the gift 
of the Holy Ghost. This was his own view of the secret 
of his power. But the Spirit of God finds a limit in the 
nature with which He deals; and the powers and faculties 
of the man who receives Him are the measure of His mani- 
festation. A child possessed of the Holy Spirit is still a 
child. The Divine gift adorns the weakness, but does not 
transform it into strength. In the preacher and teacher 
divinely furnished, there was still a strength of nature which 
was the basis of his power. 

In person he was tall and commanding, and every move- 
ment was naturally easy and graceful. His stately form 
manifestly did not appear on its own account. The body 
was fully possessed and permeated by the soul, controlled 
and vitalized in even' part by the spirit within. There was 
a power in his eye which none failed to feel who came within 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 93 

its range — a searching, penetrating power, changing at times 
in expression from a sternness that was almost awful, to a 
melting tenderness and gentleness. But the power did not 
seem to lie in the physical organ, but in the soul that looked 
through it — the intense and fervent spirit that vitalized the 
whole outer man. 

Perhaps the most characteristic feature of the inner man 
was the depth and intensity of his emotional nature. This 
gave energy and power to every movement and every ex- 
pression ; every thought radiated both heat and light, and 
the two were to him inseparable. To see and to feel a truth 
were to him one and the same thing ; and his hearers were, 
to a great extent, impressed in the same way. His range of 
feeling was as broad and varied as his thought. He was not 
only stern and solemn as a prophet, from his sympathy with 
God and with all righteousness and holiness, but in turn as 
gentle and affectionate as a child, attracting children to him- 
self as if he were one of them. In his own family and with 
his friends, his manner was characterized and tempered by 
a genial playfulness which set aside constraint, and made all 
feel at home in his presence. No one was more ready with 
a sportive allusion or remark, and sometimes a serious ad- 
monition was conveyed under such a cover. Not long be- 
fore his death a stranger called to see him, who professed 
what are called liberal views, and expressed his interest in 
Mr. Finney's teachings and his general approval of them. 
" But," said he, " there is one point in which I don't agree 
with you; I don't believe in a personal devil." "You 
don't!" said Mr. Finney; "don't believe in a personal 
devil ! Well, you resist ^iim awhile, and you will believe 
in him." 

The intensity of his own religious affections and expe- 
riences, of course colored and modified his public instruc- 
tions. For himself he never seemed to over-estimate such 
experiences, or to accept in himself or in others any senti- 



94 Critical Estimates of 

mental or emotional glow, in place of genuine obedience 
and righteousness; but Christian experience to him involved 
the profoundest and loftiest emotions. He seemed at times 
to have been caught up to the third heaven with Paul, and 
to have shared in its unutterable joys. Under such an 
inspiration his representation of the religious emotions would 
transcend all ordinary experience, and the result would often 
be discouraging and depressing to those who walked in more 
quiet paths. Some of the most saintly souls, possibly even 
in his own home-circle, seemed to suffer at times from the, 
reaction of his almost seraphic flights ; not that he was him- 
self unable to appreciate the lowly experience of a mere 
child, or would willingly disparage the feeblest effort of 
faith ; but those who could not soar with him were some- 
times left behind in discouragement, and might have wel- 
comed the guidance of a more quiet and restful hand. Yet 
there were times when he seemed to walk in the valley rather 
than on the mountain-top, and the weakest and most self- 
distrustful could keep step and step with him. 

A misconception of Mr. Finney has prevailed to a con- 
siderable extent, that his range of thought and of interest 
was very narrow — that he was so absorbed in the contempla- 
tion of direct Gospel-truth, and its immediate application to 
the wants of men, that the wider field of human interests 
and human life was not embraced by his sympathies. A 
limited acquaintance with him through his preaching or his 
writings, might sometimes give rise to such an impression. 
Those who have read only his articles on recreations and 
amusements, as published a few years since, have naturally 
fallen into this misconception, tits life-long habit of pre- 
senting only that side or view of truth which at the time 
seemed to meet his purpose, has tended to confirm the idea. 
Eut it is an entire misapprehension of the man. The whole 
range of human interests, embracing science and art, and 
civil and social life, had attractions for him, and he was an 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 95 

advocate and promoter of the widest culture. His delight 
in music in all its proper forms was intense, and the musical 
interest at Oberlin from the earliest days has grown up under 
his approval and encouragement. But he gave little place to 
what was artistic simply, and realized no end in the elevation 
of heart and life. The immense choir and the swelling 
organ gave him no satisfaction unless they distinctly articu- 
lated the praises of Jehovah ; and once, after a failure in this 
direction, he stepped forward for the morning prayer, and 
said, " O Lord, we trust thou hast understood the song we 
have tried, to sing ; thou knowest that we could not under- 
stand a word of it." 

Such was the breadth of his nature and of his sympathies 
that although his early education was comparatively limited 
and narrow, he did not fail to appreciate the advantages of 
the broadest culture ; hence his influence upon the work of 
the College in this direction was entirely wholesome. The 
teachers in every department had his sympathy and support, 
and he never under-valued any branch of learning because 
he had not shared its advantages. 

The great leading lines of human thought and action were 
familiar to him, and men who were looked up to as leaders 
in these various directions, were often impressed with the 
clearness of his views and the wisdom of his suggestions in 
the direction of their own specialty. Once when summoned 
before the Court of Common Pleas as a witness, in a case 
where as pastor he had received a confidential communica- 
tion, he took his stand upon the privileges of a pastor, and 
set forth the principles of the case, in such a way as to com- 
mand the assent and admiration of the court and of the 
entire bar. 

When such a man as Senator Chase had thrilled the peo- 
ple with his words and thoughts of wisdom and inspiration 
on the question of the hour, Mr. Finney could follow him 



06 Critical Estimates of 

vrr.h words and thoughts of equal weight and wisdom— a peer 
among the leaders of the people. 

Yet Mr. Finney must be regarded rather as a leader of 
thought than a leader of men. He rejoiced to find himself 
before the multitude ; but it was that he might set the truth 
before them, and bring each one personally to God. The 
organized movements of men, in Church or State, had little 
attraction for him ; and in such gatherings he was seen only 
on rare occasions. He had no ambition to be recognized as 
a leader, and the idea of standing as the head of a new sect 
or denomination was repugnant to him. There were times 
in his life when with a different temper he might have been 
betrayed into this mistake. He had the independence and 
self-reliance of a leader, but his mission from God was to the 
individual human soul — not to masses or organizations. He 
was certain of his own work, and he could recognize that 
others had theirs, but he could not turn aside to co-operate 
with them. Thus from the beginning to the end of his 
public life, he pursued his own work in his own way. 

In this work, as to its power and method, he can have no 
successor, any more than Elijah or Paul. The man and the 
work were made for each other, and no one can take up 
what he laid down. Others have entered into his labors and 
will gather the harvest of his sowing ; but no one can ever 
stand in his place, or wield the power with which he was en- 
dowed. But others can share in the same singleness of pur- 
pose and consecration of life, and can, each in his own way, 
work for the same great end ; and those who have witnessed 
such a life and felt its power, live henceforth under a higher 
obligation. 

The outcome of that work can never be estimated except 
by Him to whom the secrets of all hearts and the issues of 
all lives are known. Redeemed souls, a numerous throng, 
already stand upon the crystal sea within the circle of God's 



Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 97 

Glory, whose faces were turned heavenward by this herald 
of the everlasting Gospel ; and the power of his life shall 
still work in the world even among those who have never 
heard his name, until time shall be no more. 

In setting forth the power of such a life, we only magnify 
the grace of Christ, who calls His servants and prepares them 
for their work, and sends them forth with the promise, " Lo 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 

My young friends of the graduating classes : With the 
life and work of our departed teacher and father, you have 
had less direct acquaintance than most who have preceded 
you in the college life at Oberlin. His venerable form, still 
erect and stately under the weight of four-score years, has 
been familiar to you, and from time to time his voice has 
fallen upon your ears like the echo of a trumpet call. And 
how much his thought and prayer and faithful endeavor have 
had to do in shaping your thought and life, none but God 
can know. Some of the rills of truth from which you have 
refreshed your souls along your way, have flowed from the 
great Fountain of Truth through channels which he opened. 
Some of the impulses to a life of duty and of service which 
have inspired your hearts, have come directly or indirectly 
from his fervent and faithful soul. The doors of usefulness 
which you may enter in the years which lie before you, have 
in many cases been opened to you by his personal influence 
and effort ; and thus to the end of your earthly life, and on 
into the life beyond, your character, your work, and your 
destiny will be, in a measure, shaped by what he was and 
what he did. 

And here is our relief and satisfaction in the closing up 
of such a career of usefulness and power. There is to be 
no real loss. From that burning and shining light, in which 
for so long a season we were permitted to rejoice, a thousand 
other lights have been kindled, and thus the darkness of 
the world shall be more and more enlightened. 



98 Mr. Finney's Character and Work. 

It is impossible to fall within the range of such a life, 
without coming under higher obligations to God and to 
mankind. You and we all who have felt the power must ac- 
cept the responsibility. The higher ideal of consecration 
and of service which that life has given you, you can not lay 
aside. You will none of you be called to do the work he 
did ; but in the same spirit of consecration and fidelity, you 
will be called to do your own work. No public career even, 
may open to you all, but love to God and to mankind can 
inspire your hearts, and fidelity to all truth and righteous- 
ness can give power and efficiency to your lives. 

Be not disheartened if sometimes that fidelity shall lead 
to misapprehension, and shall bring you reproach instead of 
honor with men. With God there is no misapprehension; 
and in the end He shall bring forth your righteousness as the 
light, and your judgment shall be as the noon- day. " To 
them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for 
glory and honor and immortality," He gives " eternal life." 
God grant that this may be your purpose and this your por- 
tion. Amen. 



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